By Gus Thomson, Auburn Journal

One of the more respected history experts in the Auburn area has just come out with a new book and “Romantic Tahoe” is a labor of love that should be of particular interest in the Tahoe area.

Donna Howell, a former vice president of the Placer County Historical Foundation and a past president of the Placer County Historical Society, is an Auburn native who has already been author or co-author of a number of locally oriented history publications, including the well-received “Auburn Images.”

This time around, Howell has pulled out more than 75 photos from her own collection – many of them shot by relatives – to help tell the story of the period from 1929 to 1935 at the Forest Service Campground and Ranger Station at Incline, on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe at Crystal Bay.

Howell co-writes this book with her late mother, Kathryn Howell – who as a new bride spent five summers and two winters with her Forest Ranger husband Jim Howell. Much of the writing comes from journals kept by Kathryn Howell, with her daughter filling in some of the historical context.

Read the whole story