Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Mark Frost, Chronicle Editor
Seasonal Garnet Lake resident Candace O’Connor has written A Gem of the Adirondacks: Garnet Lake.
Candace told me in an e-mail exchange, it’s a “200-page, hardbound book filled with some 460 photos (many in color), well-researched history and stories.”
The foreword is by Bill McKibben, the environmental activist and Middlebury College professor, who has a home on the lake.
The book celebrates the lake and aims to generate funds to help preserve it.
Secluded, largely forever wild Garnet Lake is a 300+ acre water body, 25 to 30 feet deep, in the Town of Johnsburg in northwest Warren County.
Candace wrote me, “My husband and I live four months of the year at Garnet Lake, and the rest of the year in Saint Louis, MO. However, that doesn’t begin to describe our acquaintance with (and love of) the Adirondacks. Bob has been coming to Garnet Lake since childhood.”
She elaborated, “I am a writer by profession” who has “written 14 other books, many institutional histories (the history of Washington University in St. Louis, the history of Saint Louis Children’s Hospital, etc.), as well as a PBS documentary.
“I did this project pro bono, as did the photographers, and all proceeds go to the lake association, which is currently grappling with the problems of an aging dam.”
The book offers much history of Garnet Lake, from the pioneers who settled it to its heyday as a resort to the mostly summer residents who have homes there now.
One early surprise is a full-page Lincoln automobile ad from 1944 headlined: “Wanderlust…tomorrow, where will it lead you?” with a photo captioned: “Road along Garnet Lake, Warren County, New York.”
Candace said the book is priced at $50 and is for sale through the Garnet Lake Conservation Association (GLCA), Hudson River Trading, Izzy’s and H’Art Studio. To order it directly, contact via e-mail dianeburgess@garnetlake.org. Her postal address is PO Box 52, Johnsburg, NY 12843.
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