The True and Lucky Life of a Turtle
Along with Buxton Books and the Turtle Survival Alliance, we are so excited to host lauded naturalist and acclaimed author of 38 books, Sy Montgomery, along with wildlife illustrator Matt Peterson, for part of a special tour to personally share The True and Lucky Life of a Turtle. From these bestselling and Sibert Honor–winning creators of Of Time and Turtles comes the true story of a snapping turtle’s extraordinary, unlucky journey—and the amazing conservationists who helped give him a second chance. This feel-good, gorgeously illustrated story about ‘beating the odds’ is one you won’t want to miss.
If you are unable to attend the event but would like to purchase one or more signed copies, visit Buxton Books.
About Sy Montgomery
To research books, films, and articles, Sy Montgomery has been chased by an angry silverback gorilla in Zaire and bitten by a vampire bat in Costa Rica, worked in a pit crawling with 18,000 snakes in Manitoba, and handled a wild tarantula in French Guiana. She has been deftly undressed by an orangutan in Borneo, hunted by a tiger in India, and swum with piranhas, electric eels, and dolphins in the Amazon. She has searched the Altai Mountains of Mongolia’s Gobi for snow leopards, hiked into the trackless cloud forest of Papua New Guinea to radio-collar tree kangaroos, and learned to scuba dive to commune with octopuses, sharks, and giant oceanic manta rays. And for her recent bestseller, Of Time and Turtles, she befriended a 42-pound wild snapping turtle named Fire Chief, who shows his extraordinary trust by allowing her to feed him by hand. Sy’s 38 books for both adults and children have garnered many honors; The Soul of an Octopus was a 2015 Finalist for the National Book Awards, The Good Good Pig, her memoir of life with her pig, Christopher Hogwood, is an international bestseller, she is the winner of the 2009 New England Independent Booksellers Association Nonfiction Award, the 2010 Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award and the Henry Bergh Award for Nonfiction (given by the ASPCA for Humane Education) and dozens of other honors. She is a 1979 graduate of Syracuse University, a triple major with dual degrees in Magazine Journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and in French Language and Literature and in Psychology from the College of Arts and Sciences. She has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Keene State College in 2004, from Franklin Pierce University and Southern New Hampshire University in 2011, and from Lesley University in 2024.
About Matt Patterson
Matt Patterson will do almost anything to make his paintings of wild animals as accurate and lifelike as possible. He’s been bitten by snapping turtles. He’s caught alligators with his bare hands from a kayak. He’s camped in the Everglades, traveled to Madagascar and Central America, and visited 48 US states. He’s delighted in it all. Matt’s vivid, lifelike art has won national and international acclaim, including the Golden Turtle Award and the Roger Tory Peterson Wild America Art Award. He is grateful to use his talent not only to raise awareness about these gorgeous animals but to help keep them alive on the planet we human newcomers are lucky to share with them.
About the Turtle SurvivalAlliance
Formed in 2001 and gaining nonprofit status in 2004, Turtle Survival Alliance is a global conservation organization that works to create a planet where turtles can thrive in the wild. Our science-based initiatives are directed by local leaders, inspiring sustainable, community-based stewardship to prevent extinctions. Where populations cannot yet thrive in the wild, our captive breeding programs preserve opportunities for their future survival.