Tom Brown from Western North Carolina had been working actively to restore the rare and lost apple varieties around Appalachia since the 90s, and was able to save about 1,200 varieties of these heirloom apples up to date.
Brown currently resides in the center of the state of Clemmons and a retired chemical engineer. He's been on a long journey of rescuing Appalachia's apples with fear that they might disappear forever if he doesn't do this meaningful work.
"Finding old apples was a joy for me knowing I was helping me preserve our agriculture heritage," Brown said. This passion of him started when he saw many of the apple varieties that he can find, and contacting people, even visiting homes of strangers to inquire about apples.