Art Montague

Art Montague was born and grew up in Toronto until his family moved to Vancouver in his teens. There, he began his writing career with several Canadian newspapers: Globe & Mail, Western Producer, Vancouver Province, Northern Miner, and Daily Commercial News.

In a departure from a writing career, and following studies at the University of Saskatchewan, Art worked for two decades in the field of community economic development, most notably with low income, ex-offender and aboriginal organizations.

Art moved to Ottawa in the mid-eighties and in 2000 returned to full-time freelance writing. Since then he has published more than 100 articles, including several for Law and Order Magazine on cutting edge investigative and law enforcement procedures. Links to many of Art's published works, including True Crime and crime fiction, may be found at his website.

Since 2003 Art has published four books for Altitude Publishing Canada's Amazing Stories series.

Canada's Rum Runners: Incredible Exploits and Adventures During Canada's Illicit Liquor Trade
Meyer Lansky: The Shadowy Exploits of New York's Master Manipulator
Crime Boss Killings: The Castellammarese War
Disasters Across Canada: Bravery in the Face of Danger and Destruction

Crime, crime prevention, and the socio-economic costs of criminal activity have threaded through Art's writing for many years. While he has the research capacity to cite crime statistics, he prefers to address crime-related issues from an anecdotal perspective, always with an attempt to view them through the eyes of the players: the law enforcers and judiciary, the criminals, and the victims.

During research for Canada's Rumrunners (2005) Art developed a special interest in U.S.-Canada cross border smuggling and has maintained up-to-date files on this subject ever since.

Alternative energy and environmental concerns are also high on Art's list of current interests. As a freelancer, he has been fortunate to have had an opportunity to research and produce articles in other areas besides crime and justice. These are two of them.

Art is a member of The Writers Union of Canada and the Professional Writers Association of Canada. He lives and works in Ottawa, enjoying views of the majestic Ottawa River from the 17th floor of a Westboro highrise with the supportive company of his wife, two cats, and a visiting granddaughter.

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