Sy Montgomery is a naturalist, documentary scriptwriter, and author of 31 books of nonfiction for adults and children. She is the recipient of lifetime achievement awards from the Humane Society and the New England Booksellers Association.
Sy Montgomery is a naturalist, documentary scriptwriter, and author of 31 books of nonfiction for adults and children, including Hummingbirds’ Gift, the National Book Award finalist The Soul of an Octopus, and the New York Times bestselling memoir The Good Good Pig. She is the recipient of lifetime achievement awards from the Humane Society and the New England Booksellers Association.
When Sy Montgomery went to spend the day at falconer Nancy Cowan’s farm, home to a dozen magnificent birds of prey, it was the start of a deep love affair. Nancy allowed her to work with Jazz, a feisty, four-year-old Harris hawk with a wingspan of more than four feet. Not a pet, Jazz was a fierce predator who could pierce skin and bone, and yet she willing to work with a human to hunt. From the moment Jazz flew down from a tree and landed on Sy’s leather-gloved fist, Sy fell under the hawk’s magnetic spell.
Over the next few years, Sy spent more time with these magnificent creatures, getting to know their extraordinary abilities and instincts. Sy passionately and vividly reveals the wondrous world of hawks and what they can teach us about nature, life and life.
Baby hummingbirds: nothing could be cuter, more delicate, or more vulnerable. They hatch from eggs the size of Navy beans and are born the size of bumblebees. This is the true story of how the author, assisting her friend, hummingbird rehabilitator Brenda Sherburne La Belle, helped to rescue and raise two orphaned baby hummingbirds, eventually releasing these most magical of all fliers in time to fly to Mexico.
Fall 2023
Tuesday, Sept. 19
Hancock, NH
Harris Center for Conservation Education
King’s Highway
Sy and Matt will share stories and images from their new book Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell, followed by a screening of a short, brilliant film on Turtle Rescue League by filmmaker Liz Klein. Human stars of the book Alexxia Bell and Natasha Nowick will join us.
Book sale and signing follows!
7-8 p.m.
Thursday, September 21
Boston, MA
New England Aquarium IMAX theatre
As part of the aquarium’s annual lecture series, Sy will speak about her unusual pandemic experience: learning about the world’s most endangered turtles, rescuing sea turtles on the Cape, and working with Turtle Rescue League to put broken turtles back together. This will be her first public appearance speaking about her new nonfiction book Of Time and Turtles: Mending The World, Shell By Shattered Shell, with art by Matt Patterson.
6:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 22
South Portland, Maine
Books A Million
430 Gorham Road
Sy and Matt will discuss their new book Of Time and Turtles, with book sale and signing afterwards.
6 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 23
Peterborough, NH
Toadstool Bookshop, 1 Depot Square
Sy and Matt will be discussing, reading from, signing Of Time and Turtles
11 a.m.
…and later that same day:
Nashua, NH
Balin Books
375 Amherst St, 101 A
Sy and Matt will discuss their new book Of Time and Turtles, with book sale and signing afterwards.
2 p.m.
Sunday, September 24
West Lebanon, NH
Books A Million
200 South Main Street
Sy and Matt will discuss their new book Of Time and Turtles, with book sale and signing to follow.
2 p.m.
Tuesday, September 26
Concord, NH
Gibson’s Bookstore
45 Main Street
Sy and Matt will discuss their new book Of Time and Turtles, with book sale and signing afterwards.
6:30 p.m.
Thursday, September 28
Belfast, Maine
Left Bank Books
109 Church Street
Sy and Matt will discuss their new book Of Time and Turtles, with book sale and signing afterwards.
5:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 1
Exeter, NH
Water Street Books
125 Water Street
Sy and Matt will discuss their new book Of Time and Turtles, with book sale and signing afterwards.
3 p.m.
Saturday, October 7
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Prince Conference Center, 1800 E. Beltline Ave SE
BioLogos Creation Care Summit
Having previously hosted luminaries including Jane Goodall, Bill McKibben, Charles Foster and others, this summit will feature a live podcast interview with Sy in conversation with host Jim Stump as part of the day-long event devoted to how science and faith can work hand-in-hand.
About 300 people attend in person, with more joining online.
More info here: https://biologos.org/events/creation-care-summit-2023
Saturday, October 14
Boston MA
Boston Book Festival
Copley Square
Time TBA
More info here: https://bostonbookfest.org/
Friday, October 20
Providence, Rhode Island
Books on the Square
471 Angell Street
Sy and Matt will discuss their new book Of Time and Turtles, with book sale and signing to follow.
7 – 9 p.m.
Saturday, October 21
East Sandwich, MA
Sandwich Public Library
Sy and Matt will discuss their new book Of Time and Turtles, with book sale and signing to follow.
Please preregister here: https://www.titcombsbookshop.com/event/sy-montgomery-matt-patterson-time-and-turtles
Sunday, October 22
Shirley, Ma
“A Conversation with Sy Montgomery” sponsored by Friends of the Ayer Library and Trustees of the Hazen Library
Bull Run Restaurant, 215 Great Road, Shirley, Ma.
After a brief presentation on her new book, Sy will be interviewed by a host to be announced.
10 a.m. brunch (optional)
12:10-12:45 Sy’s talk and interview
12:45-1:15 audience Q and A
1:15-2 book sales and signing
For tickets: https://tickets.bullrunrestaurant.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=1087
Tuesday, October 24
San Mateo, California
San Mateo Library
TBA
Thursday October 26
Santa Barbara, California
500 Ninos Drive
Santa Barbara Zoo welcomes back Sy and Matt to share images and stories from their fall title, Of Time and turtles, Book sale and signing afterwards.
Evening, more TBA
Friday, October 27
Seattle, WA
Third Place Books/Ravenna branch
2504 20th St SE
Sy and Matt discuss and read from their new book, with sale and signing to follow.
7 p.m.
Saturday, October 28
Bainbridge Island, WA
Eagle Harbor Book Co.
157 Winslow Way East
Sy and Matt discuss and read from their new book, with sale and signing to follow.
6:30 p.m.
Sunday, 29 October
Powell’s Books
1005 West Burnside St.
(This is Powell’s flagship location downtown, with over one million books!)
Sy and Matt discuss and read from their new book, with sale and signing to follow.
7 p.m.
Friday, November 3
Jaffrey, NH
“Stories to Share” First Friday series
Jaffrey Civic Center, 40 Main Street
Sy will speak about her new book Of Time and Turtles, with a book sale and signing afterwards. The event will be both live and virtual and free of charge.
5 p.m.
Wednesday, November 8
Boston, MA
“From Head to Heart: Caring for the Environment through Science, Stories and Action,” a conference for librarians and teachers for grades 3-8
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
Sy will join a panel of speakers talking about her books for children. Books will be available for sale and signing afterwards.
More information to come
Thursday, November 9
New York City
Museum of American Illustration
128 E. 63rd St
This will be the opening reception for “The Original Art”, a show celebrating the best children’s books published in the US each year–for which a painting by Matt Patterson in The Book of Turtles. The show runs from October 26-January 2024. Details and ticket purchase for the opening here: https://societyillustrators.org/event/oa2023-exhibit/
6 p.m.
Friday, November 17
Mesa, Arizona
Matt will be the banquet speaker at the Turtle and Tortoise conference. A book sale and signing will follow
Details to come!
whitelistUser:WikiVisor
With elegance, journalistic curiosity, and gorgeous artwork, this nonfiction narrative relates the dramas and insights gleaned from working in a hospital with injured, sick, and abandoned turtles—and, at the same time, investigates the mystery of time itself. (Who better than these long-lived, ancient reptiles to help probe what philosophy considers, along with consciousness, the “hard problem” of time?) Lived during the pandemic, when life for many seemed stalled and broken, the stories of courage and patience in these pages testify to the power we all have to mend our shattered world.