Our Chelsea Green Authors : Sy Montgomery

Sy Montgomery

“Part Indiana Jones, part Emily Dickinson,” as the Boston Globe describes her, Sy Montgomery is an author, naturalist, documentary scriptwriter, and radio commentator who has traveled to some of the world’s most remote wildernesses for her work. She has worked in a pit crawling with 18,000 snakes in Manitoba, been hunted by a tiger in India, swum with pink dolphins in the Amazon, and been undressed by an orangutan in Borneo. She is the author of 13 award-winning books, including her national best-selling memoir, The Good Good Pig. Montgomery lives in Hancock, New Hampshire.

    Sy's Upcoming Events

    • Sy Montgomery at NH Authors Series
      Dimond Library at UNH, 18 Library Way, Durham NH 03824
      January 25, 2009, 2:00 pm

      Sy Montgomery will be the featured author in the University of New Hampshire's NH Author Series on January 25th, 2009. Visit the UNH Library's website to learn more.

    • Sy Montgomery at Hancock Women's Club
      Hancock Vestry, Main Street, Hancock NH
      February 11, 2009, 2:00 pm

      Hancock Women's Club: on the trail of man-eating tigers and pink dolphins - a lecture by Sy Montgomery. Open to the public/refreshments.

    • Sy Montgomery at "Lacey Loves to Read" event
      Lacey Community Center, 6729 Pacific Avenue., Lacey WA
      February 26, 2009, 7:00 pm

      "Lacey Loves to Read" town-wide celebration of The Good Good Pig and other Sy Montgomery books. February 26, 7 p.m. slide presentation at Lacey Community Center, 6729 Pacific Avenue. Other events TBA include a student bookmark contest, educators' coffee, student writing workshops and preschool story times. As well as the slide talk and book signing, Sy will visit North Thurston Public Schools and meet with educators and librarians. For more information, visit the Lacey Loves to Read website at www.nthurston.k12.wa.us/read.

    • Sy Montgomery at Village Square Booksellers
      32 The Square, Bellows Falls VT
      April 17, 2009, 7:00 pm

      Sy Montgomery will discuss her books, Journey of the Pink Dolphin and Spell of the Tiger, at Village Square Booksellers in Bellows Falls, VT on April 17th, 2009. The event begins at 7:00 pm. Call 802-463-9404 to learn more.

    Sy's Books

    Spell of the Tiger

    The Man-Eaters of Sundarbans

    A book that earned Sy Montgomery her status as one of the most celebrated wildlife writers of our time, Spell of the Tiger brings readers to the Sundarbans, a vast tangle of mangrove swamp and tidal delta that lies between India and Bangladesh. It is the only spot on earth where tigers routinely eat people—swimming silently behind small boats at night to drag away fishermen, snatching honey collectors and woodcutters from the forest. But, unlike in other parts of Asia where tigers are rapidly being hunted to extinction, tigers in the Sundarbans are revered. With the skill of a naturalist and the spirit of a mystic, Montgomery reveals the delicate balance of Sundarbans life, explores the mix of worship and fear that offers tigers unique protection there, and unlocks some surprising answers about why people at risk of becoming prey might consider their predator a god.

    Journey of the Pink Dolphins

    An Amazon Quest

    When Sy Montgomery ventured into the Amazon to unlock the mysteries of the littleknown pink dolphins, she found ancient whales that plied the Amazon River at dawn and dusk, swam through treetops in flooded forests, and performed underwater ballets with their flexible bodies. But she soon found out that to know the botos, as the dolphins are locally called, you must also know the people who live among them. And so in Journey of the Pink Dolphins, Montgomery—part naturalist, part poet, part Indiana Jones—winds her way through watery tributaries and riverside villages, searching for botos and hearing the tales of locals who believe these ethereal dolphins are shape-shifters—creatures that emerge from the water as splendidly dressed men or women only to enchant their human onlookers, capture their souls, and then carry them away to the Encante, an underwater world. Montgomery takes readers on four separate journeys, exploring the river-dwelling dolphins’ natural history, chronicling their conservation pressures, unraveling their prehistoric roots, and visiting with shamans who delve into the Encante.