charles montgomery born 1968 in north vancouver british columbia is an awardwinning canadian writer and urbanist primarily known for his books the last heathen 2004 and happy city 2013 montgomery has advised and lectured planners students and decisionmakers across canada the usa and england using insights from psychology behavioral economics architecture and city planning montgomery has worked with the bmw guggenheim lab and the museum of vancouver to social experiments that help citizens transform their relationships with each other and their citiesmontgomery graduated from the university of victoria in 1991 with a degree in geographymontgomerys writing has appeared in magazines and newspapers including dwell magazine outside magazine canadian geographic enroute magazine the national post the globe and mail the walrus readers digest and the south china morning post his magazine writing has won four western canada magazine awards a 2004 silver national magazine award and the 2003 american society of travel writers lowell thomas silver award for best north american travel story in 2007 the canadian meteorological and oceanographic society awarded him a citation of merit for his outstanding contribution towards public awareness of climate change sciencehis first book the last heathen 2004 later republished in the united states as the shark god is a narrative description of montgomerys search for the legacy of victorian missionaries among them his greatgrandfather bishop henry montgomery in the south pacific archipelago of melanesia it includes encounters with cargo cults pagan ancestorworshippers and militants in vanuatu and the solomon islands the book won the charles taylor prize for literary nonfiction in 2005 prize jurors called it an irresistible adventure in discovery a journey into rough terrain and a revelation of the power of ancestral stories across cultural divides the book also won the hubert evans nonfiction prize and was shortlisted for the writers trust of canada prize for nonfictionhappy city 2013 examines the intersection between urban design and the emerging science of happiness incorporating recent findings from the fields of psychology neuroscience urban planning and social experimentation the book makes the case that by retrofitting our cities for happiness we can tackle the urgent challenges of a rapidly urbanizing and environmentally challenged world green space in cities shouldnt be considered an optional luxury montgomery writes it is a crucial part of a healthy human habitat the book was a shortlisted nominee for the 2014 hilary weston writers trust prize for nonfiction