*Virtual* EX LIBRIS: Sy Montgomery

The Providence Athenaeum enriches the mind, inspires the spirit, and elevates public discourse.As an independent, member-supported library and cultural center located on Providence’s historic Benefit Street, the library has welcomed illustrious writers, spirited thinkers, and intellectual community members through its doorsover its nearly 200 years of existenceto engage in reading, conversation, and debate.

Providence Athenæum

Bestselling author Sy Montgomery on The Soul of an Octopus

<h4>The EX LIBRIS program series from the Providence Athenæum features an array of humanities scholars, authors, historians, and thought leaders, illuminating fascinating topics and inspiring the intellectually curious. EX LIBRIS programs take place at the Athenæum in front of a live studio audience and are simulcast via Zoom, as well as recorded. This is the VIRTUAL event. Members can purchase $5 in-person tickets <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1141182570789?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1141182570789?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">here</a>.</h4> In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist and bestselling author Sy Montgomery has practiced true immersion journalism. From New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, she has befriended octopuses with strikingly different personalities—gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma. Each creature shows her cleverness in myriad ways: escaping enclosures like an orangutan; jetting water to bounce balls; and endlessly tricking companions with multiple “sleights of hand” to get food.Scientists have only recently accepted the intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees but now are watching octopuses solve problems and are trying to decipher the meaning of the animal’s color-changing techniques. With her “joyful passion for these intelligent and fascinating creatures” (Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick), Montgomery chronicles the growing appreciation of this mollusk as she tells a unique love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about the meeting of two very different minds.Book sale and signing to follow.Please note, only the moderated Q&amp;A portion of this program will be recorded and archived on our website.-Researching articles, films, and her 31 books for adults and children, nationally bestselling author Sy Montgomery has been chased by an angry silverback gorilla in Rwanda, hunted by a tiger in India, and swum with piranhas, electric eels and pink dolphins in the Amazon. Her work has taken her from the cloud forest of Papua New Guinea (for a book on tree kangaroos) to the Altai Mountains of the Gobi (for another on snow leopards.) For The Soul of an Octopus (a National Book Award finalist) she befriended octopuses at the New England aquarium and scuba dived and snorkeled with wild octopuses in Mexico and French Polynesia; next she drew on her scuba skills to cage dive with great white sharks. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, the writer Howard Mansfield, and their border collie Thurber.

The Athenæum's Spring 2025 Season is generously sponsored by the following friends and partners:

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Virtual EX LIBRIS: Sy Montgomery

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*Virtual* EX LIBRIS: Sy Montgomery

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Virtual EX LIBRIS: Sy Montgomery