Scott D. McGinnis shares a love of Lake Minnetonka and its vessels, as many area residents do. However, as a professional historian, he found a gap in historical information—namely in watercraft from the lake’s early days, he says, something he aims to remedy in his latest book, A Directory of Old Boats, Lake Minnetonka’s Historic Steamboats Sailboats and Launches.
The book was published last summer after extensive research. McGinnis read decades worth of newspaper, searched the archives of local historical societies, visited boating museums across the country and interviewed local boating enthusiasts. The result is a 310-page anthology complete with more than 300 illustrations of the histories of more than 650 boats that chartered the waters of Lake Minnetonka.
McGinnis’s book is available at at Leipold's, Excelsior Bay Books, Bay Tree, the Shorewood Yacht Club Store and The Bookcase. He also sells the book himself and makes free local deliveries on request. You can contact McGinnis at 612.210.1424 or scottdmcginnis@earthlink.net.
