Lee Hendrix of Lake City spent over half a century piloting and working aboard commercial river boats.

His new book, “Peep Light: Stories of a Mississippi River Boat Captain,” published this year by the University of Mississippi Press, documents his career piloting both passenger and cargo vessels.

In a typical year, there would still be some ice on Lake Pepin when the first commercial tow made its way upriver at the outset of the commercial navigation season.