R.A. Montgomery, co-author and publisher of the long-running children's book series "Choose Your Own Adventure," which allowed generations of kids to choose from a multitude of possible story endings, died recently at his home in Vermont. Montgomery was 78, and his cause of death was not immediately disclosed.
"Choose Your Own Adventure" books were a vital predecessor to online games, text adventure games, and internet narratives that allowed users to play a role in determining the outcome of their own experience. The tropes, which predated video games, are familiar: the reader as owner of his or her destiny, the sudden plot twists, the sense of discovery, and even death.
"The wrong decision could end in disaster...even death," the book's warning goes.
"Ray himself, as a parent and as a writer, didn't have a lot of judgments and ideas about what kids shouldn't be allowed to hear about," said Shannon Gilligan, Montgomery's wife. "What was very exciting to children about 'Choose Your Own Adventure' was that you could dip your toe into areas such death by explosion," which was not typical children's book fare at the time to be certain.
As the age of computers and technology evolved, Montgomery's adapted to the new technology, according to an obituary published on the "Choose Your Own Adventure" website: "He was an early owner of an Apple II. He helped to adapt two "Choose Your Own Adventure" books as games for the Atari console in 1984. He was then 'evangelized' by Apple Computer in 1990 to develop software for CD-Rom on the Macintosh. His most notable project from this era was a creativity tool for kids entitled Comic Creator that he designed and produced with his wife, Shannon Gilligan."
From a personal perspective, I myself read dozens of "Choose Your Own Adventure" books as a lad, and loved each them dearly. Raymond Almiran Montgomery will be missed for sure.
