Howard Mansfield and Sy Montgomery
It Couple
It couple Sy Montgomery and Howard Mansfield are putting tiny Hancock, New Hampshire, on the map. Globe-trotting naturalist Sy has taken a break from her adventures to charm the world with the story of her pet, Christopher Hogwood, aka “The Good, Good Pig.” Her next book takes her back to the wilds, studying the Tree Kangaroos of the Cloud Forest (really!). Meanwhile, Howard is examining the spine (and nervous system) of civilization in his latest book, “The Bones of the Earth,” and his recent compilation of essays puts the Monadnock region on display in a colorful kaleidoscope (see review in UpFront). Both have used the microcosm in the backyard of their 120-year-old house as a tool to investigate the universe. Howard had this in mind from the moment he relocated to the Monadnock Region. “I was trying to see new things in the things I see every day,” he says. “To see if it’s possible to be a tourist of the near-at-hand.”
New Hampshire Magazine knows where “It” is at. Each November, we identify the state’s most happening people and publish their names and profiles in our annual “It List.”
So what defines an “It” Person?
How about buzz, panache, je ne sais quoi, currency, a person whose time has come, a person of tomorrow, a timeless person, noteworthy, below the radar, in the news, in the know, hot, cool, high impact, slippery, a mover and shaker, a humble saint, a behind-the-scenes operator, a scenery chewer, an unsung hero, a hero who knows how to sing.
It’s a quality that’s hard to define, but you know it when you see it.
Above is one member of the 2006 It List.
