Rutherford George Montgomery (April 12, 1894 –July 3, 1985) was an American children's author who won various awards for his books, including a Newbery Award. He also wrote under the names of A.A. Avery, Al Avery, Art Elder, E.P. Marshall, and Everitt Proctor.

Life

Born in North Dakota

North Dakota

North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

, Montgomery studied at the Western State College of Colorado

Western State College of Colorado

Western State College of Colorado is a four-year public liberal arts college located in Gunnison, Colorado. The enrollment stands at about 2400 students with a high percentage, one-fourth, from out of state. The far flung appeal for some students is found in the idyllic mountains and ski slopes...

. He served in the United States Air Corps from 1917 to 1918. He served as a judge in Gunnison County, Colorado from 1932 to 1937, and became a freelance writer in 1938. While still at school, he began writing stories about the wild animals that lived around his family's farm. He went on to write books about aviation and the people, landscapes and animals of the American West, particularly horses.
During his career, he worked as a script writer for Walt Disney Studios

Walt Disney Pictures

Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...

. In all, he authored over 100 books.

Literary awards

• Kildee House
  Kildee House
  Kildee House is a children's novel by Rutherford George Montgomery. It tells the story of a house in a redwood forest which becomes a refuge for wildlife. The novel was first published in 1949 and was a Newbery Honor recipient in 1950. It is illustrated by Barbara Cooney....
  
  : Newbery Award Honor Book,1950.
• Wapiti the Elk: Commonwealth Club of California
  Commonwealth Club of California
  The Commonwealth Club of California is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization based in Northern California. Founded in 1903, it is the oldest and largest public affairs forum in the United States...
  
   Juvenile Silver Medal,1952
• Beaver Water: New York Herald Tribune
  New York Herald Tribune
  The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
  
   Children's Spring Book Festival Award,1956; Boy's Clubs of America Junior Book Award,1957
• The Stubborn One: Western Writers of America
  Western Writers of America
  Western Writers of America, founded 1953, promotes literature, both fiction and non-fiction, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional western fiction, the more than five hundred current members also include historians and other non-fiction writers as well as authors...
  
   Golden Spur Award,1965

A Yankee Flier

Written under the pen name Al Avery.

• A Yankee Flier with the R.A.F. (1941)
• A Yankee Flier in the Far East (1942)
• A Yankee Flier in the South Pacific (1943)
• A Yankee Flier in North Africa (1943)
• A Yankee Flier in Italy (1944)
• A Yankee Flier Over Berlin (1944)
• A Yankee Flier in Normandy (1945)
• A Yankee Flier on a Rescue Mission (1945)
• A Yankee Flier Under Secret Orders (1946)

The Golden Stallion Books

• The Golden Stallion, also known as The Capture of the Golden Stallion (1951)
• The Golden Stallion (abridged)
• The Golden Stallion's Revenge (1953)
• The Golden Stallion to the Rescue (1954)
• The Golden Stallion's Victory (1956)
• The Golden Stallion and the Wolf Dog (1958)
• The Golden Stallion's Adventure at Redstone (1959)
• The Golden Stallion and the Mysterious Feud (1967)