Raymond Almiran Montgomery Jr.Reading Is Fundamental , Reading Planet , Book Zone , Meet the Authors and Illustrators
(March 9, 1936 – November 9, 2014) was an American author and key figure in the ''

Choose Your Own Adventure ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actio ...

'' interactive children's book series.

Early and personal life

Montgomery was born in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

on March 9, 1936. Montgomery graduated from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

(June 17, 1962
Constance Cappel Is Married To Raymond Montgomery Jr.
''

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'' and attended

graduate school Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. On November 9, 2014, Montgomery died at his home in

Warren, Vermont Warren is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,977 at the 2020 census. The center of population of Vermont is located in Warren. It is set between the two ranges of the Green Mountains, with approximately 25% ...

.Slotnik, Daniel E. (20 November 2014)
R.A. Montgomery, 78, Dies; Published Choose Your Own Adventure Series
''

Career

Montgomery was an author who contributed many books to the ''

'' series, created in the late 1970s, based on a book manuscript written by Edward Packard and submitted to Montgomery's publishing company. He and his former wife, Constance Cappel, published four books at Vermont Crossroads Press that would later be included in the Bantam "Choose" series (''The Cave of Time'', ''Journey Under the Sea'', ''By Balloon to the Sahara'', and ''Space and Beyond''). Montgomery penned more than 50 books for this series and its various offspring, including books in a series for younger readers. The ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' series published 184 titles through

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...

between 1979 and 1998, including many by Montgomery himself and several by his sons Ramsey and Anson. It was one of the most popular children's series of all time, with over 250 million books in print. Montgomery and partner Shannon Gilligan reissued some books of the initial "Choose" series through

Chooseco Chooseco LLC is an American publishing company based in Waitsfield, Vermont. Founded in 2003 by author R. A. Montgomery and publisher Shannon Gilligan, the company primarily releases reissues of Montgomery's ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' seri ...

LLC, in

Waitsfield, Vermont Waitsfield is a New England town, town in Washington County, Vermont, Washington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,844 as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It was created by a Vermont charter on February 25, 1782, ...

. The re-release was featured in the ''

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'' and ''

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'' magazine, and an electronic version of the first book in the relaunch, ''The Abominable Snowman'', was available as an interactive download for

iPod The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...

. Montgomery said that he wanted to travel and encourage culturally distinct ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' books from writers and illustrators in all parts of the world.

Other projects

* A six book non-interactive series for young adult readers entitled ''Trio'' * A CD-ROM, ''Beyond the Wall of Stars''

References

External links

The ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, R. A. 1936 births 2014 deaths People from Greenwich, Connecticut Writers from Connecticut Writers from Vermont Williams College alumni American children's writers Choose Your Own Adventure writers