Chapter One · St. Louis · 1940s–1967
The Early Years
Monty Roberts grew up during an era when imagination and hard work created limitless possibilities — and even as a young student, teachers recognized unusual academic ability.
William Munro Roberts III was born into a prominent St. Louis family whose roots in the city reached back to the early 1800s — a lineage of lawyers, marketers, and entrepreneurs who each, in their own field, built something lasting. His grandfather, Munro Roberts Jr., founded the law firm now known as Roberts, Perryman & Bonkamp; his great-grandfather, Munro Roberts Sr., was a nationally known labor lawyer who served as an aide to publisher Joseph Pulitzer at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Monty attended Country Day School, where his teachers recognized unusual academic ability early. That promise was confirmed nationally: he became one of approximately one hundred students across the country selected as a Ford Foundation Scholar — an honor that allowed him to bypass his senior year of high school entirely and enter Yale University.
He ultimately graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1967, returning to the city his family had helped build.
A curiosity that would define a career
Those who knew him often described an endless curiosity combined with a gift for communicating ideas. He read widely, asked questions relentlessly, and had an instinct for finding the story inside any subject.
That combination — curiosity and communication — would define every chapter of his career, from Detroit boardrooms to Daytona Speedway, from Busch Gardens to Madison Avenue, and ultimately to churches and homeless shelters.
Endless curiosity, combined with a gift for communicating ideas.