Nathan Montoya, Owner/Proprietor

Nathan was born in Rochester, New York, into a family of professional musicians and educators. After a nomadic childhood, he landed in Indiana, where he found himself attending the same high school as Kurt Vonnegut (just not at the same time). He earned a BA in Psychology and Religious Studies, a BA in Biology (Certificate in Environmental Studies), and an MS in Ballet (Cognate in Opera Stage Directing) from Indiana University.

In the 1970s Nathan drove a taxicab in New York City and worked as a manager at the legendary Café Figaro in Greenwich Village while training with the Harkness Ballet, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, and the Martha Graham School. In New York he performed with the Martha Graham Ensemble and the Pearl Lang Dance Company. During the 1980s he and his wife, Anne, taught master classes through Germany and the United Kingdom and performed with the dance companies of the opera houses in the German cities of Detmold and Giessen, where Nathan also served as ballet and modern dance master and resident choreographer. After returning to the States, following the birth of their son, he served for 17 years as a professor in the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University.

Nathan now happily identifies as a bouquiniste, specializing in world religions, science fiction, poetry, literary fiction, and rare or collectible tomes. He served for three years on the Award Panel for the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award and for six years on the Board of Directors of the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association. He hits the gym on a regular basis and practices the traditional Japanese martial art of Aikido, in which he holds the rank of Shodan, or first degree black belt.