OCCUPATION
Attorney, writer, and historian.
EDUCATION
B.A., American History, University of California, Berkeley, 1959.
J.D., Berkeley Law, University of California, Berkeley, 1962.
LEGAL PRACTICE
Member, State Bar of California, 1963-date (presently inactive).
Admitted to practice: Supreme Court of California, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 1963-date.
Associate: Twohig, Weingarten and Haas, Seaside, California. 1963.
Partner: Weingarten and McGinty, Seaside, California. 1963-1970.
Private practice: Monterey, California, and San Francisco, California: 1970-1984.
Extensive trial and appellate experience in state and federal courts, California: 1963-1973.
LEGAL EDITOR
Matthew Bender and Company (Lexis-Nexis Group), San Francisco, California: 1984-1998.
TEACHING
Instructor in Political Science, Hartnell College, Salinas, California, 1963-1964.
PUBLISHED BOOKS
Lincoln and California: The President, the War, and the Golden State. Potomac Books, a division of the University of Nebraska Press, 2023. Hardcover. Kindle.
Archy Lee’s Struggle for Freedom: The True Story of California Gold, the Nation’s Tragic March toward Civil War, and a Young Black Man’s Fight for Liberty. Rowman and Littlefield/Lyon’s Press, 2019. Hardcover, softcover.
The Rest I Will Kill: William Tillman and the Unforgettable Story of How a Free Black Man Refused to Become a Slave. Liveright/W.W. Norton & Co., 2016. Hardcover. Softcover. Kindle. Audible Audio Edition, Audio CD. History Book Club selection.
Lincoln’s Greatest Case: The River, the Bridge, and the Making of America. Liveright/W.W. Norton & Co., 2015. Hardcover. Softcover. Kindle. Audible Audio Edition. Audio CD.
A Toast to Eclipse: Arpad Haraszthy and the Sparkling Wine of Old San Francisco.
University of Oklahoma Press, 2012. Hardcover. Kindle.
The Body of John Merryman: Abraham Lincoln and the Suspension of Habeas Corpus. Harvard University Press. 2011.
John Brown’s Trial. Harvard University Press, 2009.
Lincoln and the Court. Harvard University Press, 2008. Hardcover. Softcover. Kindle.
The Oatman Massacre: A Tale of Desert Captivity and Survival. University of Oklahoma Press. 2005. Hardcover. Softcover. Kindle. Audible Audio Edition.
Paderewski at Paso Robles. Overland Books, 2004. Softcover.
Strong Wine: The Life and Legend of Agoston Haraszthy. Stanford University Press, 1998. Hardcover. Softcover.
The Palace Inns: A Connoisseur’s Guide to Historic American Hotels. Stackpole Books, 1978. Hardcover. Softcover, Cameron House, 1978.
Haraszthy at the Mint. Dawson’s Book Shop, 1975. Hardcover.
COMPLETE MAGAZINE ISSUE
“We the People: A Special Issue Commemorating the Two-Hundredth Anniversary of the U. S. Constitution.” By Brian McGinty, with a foreword by Warren Burger, Chief Justice of the United States (retired). American History Illustrated 22, no. 4 (Summer 1987).
PUBLISHED IN BOOKS
“The Great Chief Justice,” in Portrait of America, 5th ed. Vol. 1, ed. Stephen B. Oates. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
“Sunrise at Philadelphia,” in Portrait of America, 5th ed. Vol. 1, ed. Stephen B. Oates. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
“Jeannette Rankin: First Woman in Congress,” in American History. Vol. 2, ed. Robert James Maddox. Guilford, Connecticut, Dushkin Pub. Group. 1989.
“The Great Chief Justice” in American History. Vol. 1, ed. Robert James Maddox. Guilford, Connecticut, Dushkin Pub. Group. 1989.
“Shays’ Rebellion: A Black Cloud That Rose in the East,” in American History. Vol. 1, ed. Robert James Maddox. Guilford, Connecticut, Dushkin Pub. Group. 1989.
“Washington Territory,” in Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War, ed. Patricia L. Faust, Harper & Row, 1986.
“13th Amendment,” in Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War, ed. Patricia L. Faust, Harper & Row, 1986.
“Henry Wager Halleck,” in Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War, ed. Patricia L. Faust, Harper & Row, 1986.
“A Heap o’ Trouble,” in American History. 7th ed., Vol. 1, ed. Robert James Maddox. Guilford, Connecticut, Dushkin Pub. Group. 1982
“‘Remember, no compromise:’ The Debate over the League of Nations,” in American History. Vol. 1, ed. Robert James Maddox. Guilford, Connecticut, Dushkin Pub. Group. 1982.
“The Dawn Came, But No Day,” in Cardboard Sea, ed. Theodore L. Harris, Louise Matteoni and Lorena A. Anderson, Economy Co., 1980.
“The Trouble Began in San Francisco,” in The Craft of the Essay, ed. Halsey P. Taylor and Victor N. Okada, Harcourt Brace, 1977.
PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS
Approximately 200 articles in popular, scholarly, and professional magazines and journals, including American Bar Association Journal, California State Bar Journal, American History Illustrated, California History, Civil War Times Illustrated, American Artist.
See America: History and Life and Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature for further listings.
LEGAL PUBLICATIONS
Contributing author to California Legal Forms, California Forms of Pleading and
Practice, California Wills and Trusts, California Public Agency Practice, California Real
Estate Law and Practice (Matthew Bender & Co., New York).
AWARDS
Scribes Book Award, American Society of Legal Writers, 2010
Honorable Mention for John Brown’s Trial (Harvard University Press, 2009).
Book One Arizona, Arizona State Library and Public Records, 2008 and 2009
Nominated two years running for The Oatman Massacre: A Tale of Desert Captivity and Survival (University of Oklahoma Press, 2005).
Sonoma County (California) Historical Society, 1999
Editor’s Award for Historical Scholarship for Strong Wine: The Life and Legend of Agoston Haraszthy (Stanford University Press, 1998).
National Historical Society, 1978
Excellence in Writing Award for “Friend of the Wilderness: John Muir,” American History Illustrated 12, No. 4 (July 1977).
SPEECHES
“Lincoln’s Greatest Case”
Webcast at Abraham Lincoln Bookshop
Chicago, Illinois
February, 2016
“John Brown’s Trial”
National Archives, Washington, D.C.
William G. McGowan Theatre
May 26, 2010
Speech filmed live for preservation in National Archives.
“John Brown’s Trial”
Jefferson County Courthouse, Charles Town, West Virginia
October 16, 2009
Sponsored by West Virginia Humanities Council and Harpers Ferry Historical Association
Speech commemorating 150th anniversary of the trial of John Brown (1859)
Filmed live and televised nationally on C-SPAN BOOKS.
“John Brown’s Trial”
University of Connecticut, Torrington
October 18, 2009
Sponsored by Torrington Historical Society and UCONN Torrington
“The Oatman Massacre”
Phoenix Museum of History, Phoenix, Arizona
January 27, 2009
Sponsored by First Families of Arizona
“The Oatman Massacre”
Yuma Crossing State Historical Park, Yuma, Arizona
February 25, 2006
Sponsored by Yuma Crossing State Historical Park
Speech commemorating 150th anniversary of Olive Oatman’s return from Indian captivity
Speech transcribed and published in Desert Tracks, publication of the Western Trails Association
“The Oatman Massacre”
Yuma Crossing Corral of Westerners, Yuma, Arizona
February 24, 2006
MEMBERSHIPS
State Bar of California, Abraham Lincoln Association, Lincoln Forum, Supreme Court Historical Society, Arizona Historical Society, California Historical Society