Author and former Kansas City resident Justin Martin discusses his latest book, Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted, a biography of the renowned landscape architect, early environmentalist, and abolitionist.

Olmsted is largely responsible for the designs of New York’s Central Park and the Stanford University campus. Martin contends that our national yearning for green spaces makes Olmsted’s work more relevant today than it was during his lifetime.

Olmsted also was one of America’s first environmentalist voices and was credited with helping to dissuade England from joining the South during the American Civil War.