R. A. Montgomery, Creator of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" Books, Dead At 78 80
Dave Knott writes Raymond Almiran Montgomery, original publisher and author of the incredibly popular "Choose Your Own Adventure" book series for children, the 4th bestselling children's series of all time, has died at the age of 78. In 1975, Montgomery founded a small press and when, in 1977, Ed Packard submitted an innovative book for young readers, "Sugarcane Island", Montgomery immediately saw it for what it was: a role-playing game in book form. He leapt at the chance to publish it, and launched a series, writing the second book, "Journey Under The Sea", himself. When Montgomery went through a divorce and sold his stake in the press to his ex-wife, he took the series, renamed as "Choose Your Own Adventure", to Bantam. The books went on to sell more than 250 million copies across 230 titles in 40 languages. Montgomery's interests also extended to new technology, adapting the series to the Atari console in 1984. He was also responsible for the Comic Creator software on Apple's Macintosh computers. Montgomery died on November 9th. The cause of death was not disclosed.
"The cause of death was not disclosed" (Score:5, Funny)
Well, clearly he shouldn't have turned to page 78.
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400 (Score:1)
Font (Score:2, Informative)
For those who don't RTFA, it's an obituary on the website of his company, which sells the current incarnation of the CYOA books.
And the obit's in the same font as the books were.
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According to this blog post [wordpress.com] the font is ITC Benguiat [fonts.com].
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Got you, Mrs. Sampson (Score:5, Interesting)
My 8th grade English teacher told us that books were written in the third person, and sometimes the first person. I raised my hand and asked about books written in the second person. She told me there was no such thing. The next day, I came in with "The Mystery Of Chimney Rock" and got a frown from Mrs. Sampson. She had what I found in later life to be a common reaction from the literati when they encounter an inconvenient truth: she disparaged it as garbage literature and said it didn't count.
Mrs. Sampson, you really disappointed me. Here was a chance to learn something new, and you refused because it threatened your existing view of what literature is.
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I still hold a grudge over the physics teacher who, after teaching about conservation of momentum, couldn't answer the question "what happens if you flick the extreme of a pencil, in space".
From that day on, I started questioning everything every teacher told me.
...
Now that I think on it, over two decades later...
... Maybe that teacher did me a favor, after all.
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Either the eraser end or the tip of the pencil. The fact that a high school physics teacher couldn't answer the question doesn't surprise me. It isn't a high school level problem. It also isn't the sort of thing that would cause me to question everything that a teacher says. It simply represents a limit to the teacher's knowledge, rather than a teacher communicating incorrect information. It simply means that you have to take an extra step in learning: either looking for other resources or figure out t
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The fact that a high school physics teacher couldn't answer the question doesn't surprise me. It isn't a high school level problem.
Perhaps not, but it's a freshman college level physics problem, and it's not all that hard at all conceptually if you understand anything about mechanics.
And, in fact, if AP physics is offered at a high school, this definitely is a high school level problem. I taught AP physics for a while years ago, and I was intimately familiar with the AP exams -- and some of the rotational problems could be quite a bit more complex than this basic conceptual problem.
It also isn't the sort of thing that would cause me to question everything that a teacher says. It simply represents a limit to the teacher's knowledge, rather than a teacher communicating incorrect information.
That's absolutely true. Teachers don't know everyt
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a hit perfectly orthogonal to the pencil would just cause it to rotate and not translate
How would that be possible? You're still imparting momentum to one end, that doesn't simultaneously magically impart the opposite momentum to the other end so that it would rotate in place. There has to be some translation involved.
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Correct. The correct answer is that the pencil will start spinning *and* moving away from you. And you will start moving away from the pencil, although much more slowly, since you weigh so much more. You'll probably start slowly spinning as well, depending on where the vector of the flick was in relation to your center of gravity.
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Why do you think it will spin?
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Because a force vector that does not intersect with the center of gravity has been applied. That causes the object to spin. It's the same principle as reaction control system thrusters on spacecraft.
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Point me to where it says that. In the original post, please.
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He said:
And in a later clarification:
Looking back at it, I realize that I did assume that the "flick" wasn't aimed down the length of the pencil, but I think that's a reasonable assumption.
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If you want the answer from a Quantum Physicist, turn to page 63.
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When you flick a pencil in the absence of gravity, you impart both translational and rotational momentum to it, both of which are conserved. Flick it in the center, and it will fly forward, and you backward. Flick it at an extreme*, and while it spins forward, you will spin backward. Flick it anywhere in between, and you'll get some combination of those.
* I doubt you can flick it without imparting any translational momentum in practice, because your finger is not infinitely thin.
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From that day on, I started questioning everything every teacher told me.
Good teachers actively encourage this of course.
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I don't know that this will make you feel better around teachers in general, but in a lower grade my well-educated teacher was very appreciative of originality.
I clearly remember writing a story in the second person and using purely phonetic spelling to model accents.
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My 8th grade English teacher told us that books were written in the third person, and sometimes the first person. I raised my hand and asked about books written in the second person. She told me there was no such thing. The next day, I came in with "The Mystery Of Chimney Rock" and got a frown from Mrs. Sampson. She had what I found in later life to be a common reaction from the literati when they encounter an inconvenient truth: she disparaged it as garbage literature and said it didn't count.
Mrs. Sampson, you really disappointed me. Here was a chance to learn something new, and you refused because it threatened your existing view of what literature is.
Unfortunately, many teachers become interested in "education" not because they want to learn and explore but because they want to "master" a field of knowledge. They want to swallow truth whole and digest it so that it will embiggen them. They often don't consider that the domains which constitute knowledge will grow and change as long as there are things that can be known.
More directly concerning the question of second-person Literature-with-a-capital-"L" Literature, Jay McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City [wikipedia.org]
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That's a perfectly cromulent thing to do around here.
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I does not have to be a CYOA either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_on_a_winter%27s_night_a_traveler
Rule #1 of any art form: if a rule is stated about the art form, someone will break that rule.
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Rule #1 of any art form: if a rule is stated about the art form, someone will break that rule.
With the exception of rule #1? Or is it the right time for my brain to explode now?
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No exception. Rule #1 is broken by reviving old forms and rules, usually with a Neo- prefix. First examle that comes to mind is Stravinsky's Neoclassical period. Compare The Rite of Spring [youtube.com] (which gave birth to the Modern period of classical music) to his Italian Suite [youtube.com], which was the first of his Neoclassical pieces, written seven years later.
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No exception. Rule #1 is broken by reviving old forms and rules, usually with a Neo- prefix.
Inconsequential, since that doesn't actually break rule #1.
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...she disparaged it as garbage literature and said it didn't count.
I run into this all the time. It only illustrates the futility of reasoned argument. Facts just get in the way. The wall goes up, and it's over. All the shrinks have this stuff well documented.
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I recall my 8th grade teacher complaining when I said I liked science fiction; she said it wasn't very good literature. I was offended. To spite her, I got the highest grade by 10 points out of 200 students taking that common course. Don't you look down on me! >:-(
30 years later, I see her point (though I doubt she could explain her own point if pressed; I have a feeling it was knee jerk meme regurgitation.)
The ideas are large and wondrous and often genius in scope. The prose is rarely of clever qual
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If you're still in search of such a thing, and don't mind fantasy rather than science fiction, Gael Baudino's Water! trilogy has richly complex text that is alternately a reference to or even mirror/parody of the styles of some of the greats: Joyce, Faulkner, and a whole bunch of others I can't remember at the moment. Highly literary, though also quite funny.
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The problem with SF is that some very successful authors are actually quite bad writers in terms of style, characterisation and plotting. For example, I wouldn't want to read a "straight" novel by Philip K Dick or Robert Heinlein.
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A shame you missed the Fighting Fantasy series. They weren't for me, but it sounds like they'd have been perfect for you.
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I think it's interesting, judging from the responses here, how many people are still carrying around deep wounds from grade school and junior high.
I don't say that with aspersion. Everybody is deeply affected by our childhood experiences. But I do think that until one can put these old wounds to rest, it's pretty much guaranteed that we will also be operating under just as thick a layer of automatic programming as Mrs. Sampson was, and maybe not even that different a variety.
I wonder what would happe
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I think it's interesting, judging from the responses here, how many people are still carrying around deep wounds from grade school and junior high. I may be wrong, but I would interpret this as meaning that the majority of responses are from people still at grade school and junior high.
Seriously, since I left university, I've hardly ever thought about anything or anyone at school.
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My 5th grade science teacher told us all about airplanes and Bernoullis principle and how that produced lift. I asked her how airplanes could fly upside down. She couldn't answer the question, and was most annoyed at me.
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The answer is that lift is actually generated mostly by the angle of attack (air hitting the underside of the wing, pushing the plane up). Bernoulli's principle usually helps, though. Stunt planes that are designed to regularly fly upside down often have symmetric airfoils and don't use Bernoulli's principle at all.
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Tom Robbins' "Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas" also fits this bill.
And while not literature, I spent five years doing the writing for a text-based RPG that was all in the second person. It's not uncommon in the game world at all. It actually got so natural I had trouble switching to the third person when I tried writing a novel.
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You didn't have to even pick a CYOA book. It's a bit gimmicky, but writing an ordinary novel in the second person has been done a few times--Jay McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City; Carlos Fuentes's Aura; Charles Stoss's Halting State, to pick a few examples.
A programming book with the same format (Score:4, Interesting)
I wish I had those books now. I asked dad several years ago what happened to them, he didn't know what I was talking about.
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Was it this? Computer Programming Techniques: A TutorText [amazon.co.uk]
TutorText books are a bit difficult to find. I couldn't even find a cover image. On the plus side, I found a dirt-cheap copy of the one above on Alibris [alibris.com] It might be worth the risk to pick that one up.
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I've got one or two of those TutorText [gamebooks.org] books tucked away from my dad's collection when he was studying programming ("data processing", as they called it back then) in the late 60s.
Used to love those (Score:2)
I used to love those Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was in grade school! Though I have to admit, I kept a finger or two between previous pages just in case I died. :)
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I used to keep several fingers at several options, although mostly it was to avoid having to go back through the early options over and over. Some of those books packed at least 20 endings into it. Sometimes I'd end up struggling to actually read it trying to keep all the places marked. Good times.
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Likewise. When the internet got big enough in the 90's I quickly realized how *nice* it might be to put that kind of book into HTML format. The back button would make reversing so much easier, cut out the need for multiple fingers in multiple pages, and save you the trouble of starting over if you got too far in. I started a story once, but didn't have the persistence to finish it, sadly.
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That was CYOA #12 Inside UFO 54-40
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This one sticks out in my mind: I was exploring a strange planet and noticed a shiny object on the sand. Should I leave it or pick it up? I chose to pick it up. The result was: you have found a [something] solar collector that has been lying in the desert for 50 years. You are instantly vaporized.
No the creator... (Score:4, Insightful)
"Ed Packard submitted an innovative book for young readers, "Sugarcane Island", Montgomery immediately saw it for what it was: a role-playing game in book form. "
So Ed Packard was the creator.
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"Ed Packard submitted an innovative book for young readers, "Sugarcane Island", Montgomery immediately saw it for what it was: a role-playing game in book form. "
So Ed Packard was the creator.
The geek doesn't give half enough credit to the guy who can recognize a good idea, get product on the shelves, and market it successfully.
The Adventures of You on Sugarcane Island was the exact prototype for books in Bantam's classic Choose Your Own Adventure series. In 1969, and 1970, the William Morris Agency submitted the book on Packard's behalf to several major publishers, all of whom rejected it. In 1976 Packard was able to get the book published by [Montgomery's] Vermont Crossroads Press. In its review of the book, Publishers Weekly called it "an original idea, well carried out."
Edward Packard [wikipedia.org]
A good time to stock up on nostalgia (Score:2, Funny)
Beware - the wrong option could lead to a bad end!
Buy a book from a safe, trusted merchant - turn to page 42 [amazon.com]
Do an illegal download, like all the cool kids - turn to page 69 [thepiratebay.se]
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You gaze into the deep fissure with despair. Try as you might to forget the image, your nightmares will be haunted by the gaping abyss.
Your adventure is over.
The first reply you read is... (Score:1)
A snarky comment? Turn to comment 35
Obsessive efforts to politicize the story? Turn to comment 49
Charming nostalgia? Turn to comment 17
Shouldn't Ed Packard... (Score:1)
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Yes, but that doesn't matter. In America we worship the people who capitalize an invention, not the person who invented it. Wozniack vs. Jobs for example.
Matt Barton's interview from 2010. (Score:2)
He just posted his video interview in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... [youtube.com] ...
Some FOSS CYOA authoring software I wrote ~1998 (Score:2)
http://www.kurtz-fernhout.com/... [kurtz-fernhout.com]
https://github.com/pdfernhout/... [github.com]
I've been thinking about translating it to JavaScript...
Thanks for being an (indirect) inspiration, Raymond. Hope you are on to even better things!