COLUMBIA -- Sales have begun for "Beautiful Places: The Timeless Beauty of South Carolina State Parks."

The 140-page hardcover coffee table book contains more than 100 color images from the 47 parks managed by the S.C. State Park Service and was produced as part of the parks' celebration of 75 years of providing recreational opportunities and stewardship of the Palmetto State's natural and cultural assets.

The book features the photography of jon o. holloway of Greenwood, a nationally known photographer whose work has appeared in such venues as National Geographic. He spent a year on the project, capturing the parks through the seasons.

Chad Prosser, director of the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, is the book's author. Cal Harrison, a freelance writer and Columbia native who now lives in Ridgeway, researched and wrote the section on the park system's history, which includes a number of vintage images. Public broadcast nature host Rudy Mancke wrote the foreword.

Financial support for the book was provided by FUJIFILM Manufacturing U.S.A. Inc. of Greenwood and BMW Manufacturing Co. in Spartanburg County.

"Beautiful Places" is available in bookstores and online at beautifulplacesalliance.org. Proceeds from the book will go to the Beautiful Places Alliance, which was created to help fund improvements and programs at the state parks.

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