Grandma Gatewood was the first woman to solo thru-hike the entire 2,050 miles of the Appalachian Trail, in 1955. She was 67 years old, a mother of 11, grandmother of 23, and survivor of an abusive marriage. She pioneered what's now called ultra-lite hiking, carrying a homemade knapsack with a blanket, rain curtain, and few odds and ends, and wearing ordinary sneakers, relying heavily on the hospitality of strangers and her own resourcefulness. She was the first person to hike the trail twice (1957) and three times (1964).
Montgomery is the founder of the narrative journalism website Gangrey.com and a 2010 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in local reporting. He won the Dart Award and Casey Medal for the series For Their Own Good, about abuse at Florida's oldest reform school. His book, Grandma Gatewood's Walk, was a New York Times Bestseller and won a National Outdoor Book Award. He has written three other books: The Leper Spy (2016), The Man Who Walked Backward (2018), and A Shot in the Moonlight (JAN 2021). He lives in Tampa.