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Hugh Montgomery

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Think Jacques Cousteau meets ER's Mark Green meets Lewis Carroll, and you begin to have an idea of who Hugh Montgomery is. THE VOYAGE OF THE ARCTIC TERN may be his first book, but it is just the latest chapter in a life every bit as eventful and exciting as his storytelling.

THE VOYAGE OF THE ARCTIC TERN, Hugh Montgomery's remarkable epic adventure in verse, had its beginnings just before Christmas 1993 when the author, a consultant in intensive care at University College London, set out to write an original story for his godchildren as a present. Three years later, after furious bouts of writing "in the middle of the night between patients and experiments," THE VOYAGE OF THE ARCTIC TERN was complete--but the voyage of the manuscript would...more Think Jacques Cousteau meets ER's Mark Green meets Lewis Carroll, and you begin to have an idea of who Hugh Montgomery is. THE VOYAGE OF THE ARCTIC TERN may be his first book, but it is just the latest chapter in a life every bit as eventful and exciting as his storytelling.

THE VOYAGE OF THE ARCTIC TERN, Hugh Montgomery's remarkable epic adventure in verse, had its beginnings just before Christmas 1993 when the author, a consultant in intensive care at University College London, set out to write an original story for his godchildren as a present. Three years later, after furious bouts of writing "in the middle of the night between patients and experiments," THE VOYAGE OF THE ARCTIC TERN was complete--but the voyage of the manuscript would prove somewhat rocky. Undaunted by twenty-eight rejection slips from as many publishers, Hugh Montgomery finally decided to self-publish his book, postponing his wedding, remortgaging his apartment, and depleting his life's savings in the process. Miraculously, the effort paid off: THE VOYAGE OF THE ARCTIC TERN sold all 2,000 copies and was named both Self-published Book of the Year and Poetry Book of the Year in England. "This has been a labor of love. Or madness, depending on which way you see it," says the author of THE VOYAGE OF THE ARCTIC TERN, which has since been republished in a beautiful illustrated edition by Candlewick Press.

What drives such passion? For one thing, Hugh Montgomery has always had a fervent love of the sea. "Perhaps I inherited this from my grandfather, a ship's captain," he suggests. "Or perhaps it came from being raised on England's south coast. My love of the ocean was greatly enhanced when, as a child, we could avoid a bath if we had been swimming that day. I think I first washed when I was twenty-seven." Youthful snorkeling gave way to commercial diving, which led to excavations of key nautical archaeological sites, including Henry VIII's flagship, the MARY ROSE. On one such expedition, Hugh Montgomery met "a real modern-day pirate, Bruno, who plundered wrecks from his ship, THE ARCTIC TERN." In the author's swashbuckling tale, he immortalizes that living character in the guise of an ageless, redemption-seeking protagonist.

Still, even the most inspired first-time author requires an adventurous spirit, and Hugh Montgomery has been able to supply that in spades. Consider his leisure pastimes: sky-diving, serious mountain climbing (he once was nearly killed in an avalanche in the Himalayas), long-distance running, and securing the world record for playing the piano underwater (he did it for charity). Hugh Montgomery's medical research holds its share of superlatives as well: in 1998, he and his team discovered the "fitness gene" and made international headlines for their achievement.

The son of a pediatrician and a pediatric nurse, Hugh Montgomery says that he "learned early on that life has much to offer and so little time to enjoy it. Work on an intensive care unit brings home just how short life can be." The author, doctor, and adventurer currently lives in London, England, with his "tolerant and supportive" wife.
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Books by Hugh Montgomery

Average rating: 4.00 · 46 ratings · 7 reviews · 20 distinct works

	The Voyage Of The Arctic Tern 4.10 avg rating — 41 ratings — 2 editions	My rating:
	Cloudsailors by Hugh Montgomery, Liz Pyle (Illustrator) 2.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2005	My rating:
	The God-Kings of Europe: The Descendents of Jesus Traced Through the Odonic and Davidic Dynasties 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2006	My rating:
	Robert Dollar Co V. American Asiatic Co U.S. Supreme Court Transcript of Record with Supporting Pleadings by Hugh Montgomery, Golden W. Bell 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	My rating:
	A Dictionary of Political Phrases and Allusions, with a Short Bibliography by Hugh Montgomery, Philip George Cambray 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2010	My rating:
	A Dictionary of Political Phrases and Allusions: With a Short Bibliography by Hugh Montgomery, Philip George Cambray 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2010	My rating:
	A Dictionary of Political Phrases and Allusions, with a Short Bibliography by Hugh Montgomery, Philip G. Cambray 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2010	My rating:
	A Dictionary of Political Phrases and Allusions, with a Short Bibliography 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2010	My rating:
	The God-Kings of the Vikings 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2010	My rating:
	The God Kings of England: The Viking and Norman Dynasties and Their Conquest of England (983-1066) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2011	My rating: