The Good Good Pig has just had its 23rd paperback printing. There are now 125,000 paperbacks in print.
Sy enjoyed catching up with the amazing Temple Grandin at the Tucson Book Festival. A dozen years ago, Sy first got to know Temple when she was writing Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World.
Last week Sy and her friend the artist Rosemary Conroy visited a few humpback whales out in the ocean down toward the Dominican Republic.
Sy visits NASA’s Goddard Center – Virtually. She’ll be talking about How to be a Good Creature, Wednesday, March 8, 10 to 11 am. You can watch here.
Sy says: “One of the most exciting (human) encounters of my life was meeting Alan Alda and introducing him to Rudy the Giant Pacific Octopus. He and producer Graham Chedd had me as a guest again on his splendid podcast Clear and Vivid — which can be heard February 21.”Listen to all the great episodes of Alan’s podcast.
Hyena lying with open mouth by Tambako the Jaguar
Creatures on the move. Coming out in paperback this year: Condor Comeback (May), The Hyena Scientist (August), Becoming a Good Creature (September), and next spring, The Magnificent Migration (April 2024).
You can now listen to Sy reading one of her earliest books, Search for The Golden Moon Bear, which was published in 2002. Listen to a sample.
Wayback Machine. Sy recently came across this old newspaper clipping from The Boston Globe, circa 1996. Back then Sy was writing a nature column for the Globe’s science section. A reader wrote in to find out if she was related to another of the Globe’s writers.
Sy is delighted to see The Hawk’s Way honored by The Christian Science Monitor as one of the Best Books of 2022. Check out all the good books here.
Love Little Lives. Sy enjoyed her visit to the Concord Museum to sign books and meet some of her fans at the annual Family Trees gathering. The Concord Museum, fresh off a sparkling expansion, looked festive with Christmas trees throughout. This one is decorated to celebrate Sy’s book, Becoming a Good Creature. Christopher Hogwood rules the tree from on high. Sy was the honorary chair of this year’s event. “Family Trees is one of the happiest and funnest events I know,” Sy says. “Kids, holidays, and reading–what could be better? What an honor it is to be honorary chair of this wonderful event. I can’t wait to connect with all the families this year and hang out with the kids amid the beautiful, decorated trees–presided over by the surely-smiling spirits of Emerson and Thoreau.”
Everybody out of the pool! Sy’s baby Blanding’s turtles, who she’s head-starting (with a Massachusetts state permit) for release in the spring, enjoy basking together on their platform in the full-spectrum light of the heat lamp. Sy says: “I love them so much!”
An Island Meets an Octopus. The Nantucket Atheneum has announced its choice for its 2023 One Book, One Island community read. This winter Nantucket’s readers have voted to read and discuss, The Soul of an Octopus.
Just published: The Korean edition of The Journey of the Pink Dolphins.
What a treat for Sy to share a panel and book signing with two greats — Tony Hiss (Rescuing the Planet) and Jack Davis (The Bald Eagle). Sy thanks to everyone at the Miami Book Fair.
Sy loves the lyrics and music by the gifted Britt Connors Music in this new song that was inspired by The Hummingbirds’ Gift and Robert Frost. Soon to be on her new album.
The Urda family bedecked this beautiful tree with scenes from Sy’s Becoming a Good Creature. Each December, Friends of the Townsend, Ma., library and senior center invites visitors to enjoy over 50 trees decorated with scenes and characters from favorite books.
Fire Chief with Matt Patterson, his wife Erin, and Fire Chjef the snapping turtle
Sy met her buddy Fire Chief, a snapping turtle, in rehab at a turtle hospital. She helped the Chief do physical therapy to strengthen his legs. Fire Chief was injured when a truck ran him over. “Fire Chief looks as big as a dinosaur, but he’s gentle as a puppy,” says Sy. A few months ago, Fire Chief left the hospital. He now lives in a pond that Matt Patterson, turtle artist supreme, dug for him.
Sy’s friend, the incredibly talented author and translator, Heide Sommer, at her recent reading from her translation of Soul of an Octopus at a 17th Century Lutheran chapel in Itzehoe, Germany. She found an enthusiastic audience of octo-lovers.
Franz Marc, Perro tumbado en la nieve, ca. 1911. Städel Museum
An excerpt from Tamed and Untamed, which Sy wrote with her best friend Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, was recently published in Revista de Universidad de Mexico — a monthly publication devoted to the dissemination of science and culture. It is affiliated with the prestigious Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and directed by the esteemed writer Guadaloupe Nettel. Read the Spanish translation here.
What genres do you especially enjoy reading and which do you avoid?
“I avoid romance novels. The books I really enjoy are either about animals or science fiction. I loved Merle’s Door, by Ted Kerasote. Many dogs today live really restricted lives and they have no normal dog social life. Another favorite is The Soul of the Octopus, by Sy Montgomery. It really made me think about consciousness.”Read more about the other books Temple likes, here.
Sy addresses the Nation. What better way to start off Octopus month than to address the ‘Nation—OctoNation, that is. Sy Loved talking with founder Warren Carlyle and the good folks who adore cephs of all kinds, but especially our fav! Happy Octopus month, friends. OctoNation® – The Largest Octopus Fan Club!
Warren K Carlyle IV asks: Have you read Soul of An Octopus by Sy Montgomery? Well you’re in for a treat! Watch here.
Sy is just back from making some fabulous new friends in New Jersey. She says “it was a blast watching 800 students at the James Caldwell High School file in to meet me in the auditorium.” The whole school read Sy’s How to be a Good Creature over the summer. She even got to meet this lovely bearded dragon in a science class.
Sy is honored to lead off the new Radiolab show by the always amazing Lulu Miller: Terrestrials. The first show is about octopuses. Give it a listen. Lulu has such a lively, smart approach; she could be part octo herself. Oh, and listen with your kids. This is a kid’s show.
Octos (and Hawks and More) Rock Her World. Andrea Barrett, a novelist and short story writer who won the National Book Award for Ship Fever, admires writers of natural history. The New York Times Book Review asked her about what she is reading. Among the questions:
Are there researchers or popular science writers you especially admire?
“Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life rocked my world; ditto Helen Macdonald’s H Is for Hawk, Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus, Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction and Scott Weidensaul’s A World on the Wing. I’ll read anything written by Jonathan Weiner or Richard Panek. Rachel Carson remains a touchstone.”
