John Latendresse
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John Latendresse (July 26, 1925 – July 23, 2000) is known for being the "father of American cultured freshwater pearls". He was the first successful North American freshwater pearl farmer and was voted one of the pearl industry's most important people of the century. Latendresse established the first experimental U.S. freshwater cultured pearl farm in Tennessee in 1963 and it became the foundation of the U.S. freshwater cultured pearl industry. The farm has emerged as a tourist destination for the State of Tennessee. The Tennessee River Pearl Farm has since been featured in a variety of national publications and television broadcasts including National Geographic(August 1985), Southern Living Magazine, Forbes (August 6, 1990), Audubon (March 1985), Smithsonian (Jan 1998), Town & Country (Dec 2002), National Geographic video - Splendid Stones (1991) and Sunday Morning News with Charles Osgood (Feb 2002). His pearls are recognized worldwide by their distinctive shapes which he fondly called fancishapes. They are cultivated in coin, bar, navette, marquise, teardrop, cabachon and triangle. His inventive techniques changed the shape of freshwater cultured pearls forever.
