William Mayne

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For other people named William Mayne, see William Mayne (disambiguation).

William James Carter Mayne[1] (16 March 1928 – 24 March 2010) was an English writer of children's fiction. He was born in Hull, the son of a doctor, and was educated at the choir school attached to Canterbury Cathedral; his memories of that time contributed to his early books. During the Second World War the school was evacuated to Cornwall.[2] He lived for most of his life in North Yorkshire.

He was described as one of the outstanding children's authors of the 20th century by the Oxford Companion to Children's Literature, and won the Carnegie Medal in 1957 for A Grass Rope and the Guardian Award in 1993 for Low Tide. He wrote more than a hundred books, and is best known for his Choir School quartet comprising A Swarm in May, Choristers' Cake, Cathedral Wednesday and Words and Music, and his Earthfasts trilogy comprising Earthfasts, Cradlefasts and Candlefasts, an unusual evocation of the King Arthur legend.

A Swarm in May was filmed by the Children's Film Unit in 1983 and a five-part television series of Earthfasts was broadcast by the BBC in 1994.

Mayne was imprisoned for two and a half years in 2004 after admitting charges of child sexual abuse and was placed on the British sex offenders' register for life.[3]

He was found dead at his home in Thornton Rust, North Yorkshire on the morning of March 24, 2010.[4][1]

Contents

[edit] Awards

  • 1957 Carnegie Medal for A Grass Rope
  • 1993 Guardian Children's Fiction Award for Low Tide
  • 1997 Kurt Maschler Award for Lady Muck[5]

[edit] Selected bibliography

  • Follow the Footprints (1953)
  • The World Upside Down (1954)
  • A Swarm in May (1955)
  • Member for the Marsh (1956)
  • Choristers' Cake (1956)
  • The Blue Boat (1957)
  • A Grass Rope (1957)
  • Underground Alley (1958)
  • Cathedral Wednesday (1960)
  • The Twelve Dancers (1962)
  • Plot Night (1963)
  • A Parcel of Trees (1963)
  • Whistling Rufus (1964)
  • No More School (1965)
  • Pig in the Middle (1965)
  • Earthfasts (1966)
  • Over the Hills and Far Away (1968)
  • Ravensgill (1970)
  • A Game of Dark (1971)
  • Skiffy (1972)
  • A Year and a Day (1976)[6]
  • It (1977)
  • While the Bells Ring (1979)
  • Winter Quarters (1982)
  • Drift (1985)
  • Kelpie (1987)
  • Antar and the Eagles (1985)
  • Low Tide (1993)
  • Cuddy (1994)
  • Cradlefasts (1995)
  • Midnight Fair (1997)
  • Candlefasts (2000)
  • Emily Goes To Market (2004)
  • Every Dog (2009)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Eccleshare, Julia (2010-04-05). "William Mayne obituary". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/apr/05/william-mayne-obituary/. Retrieved 2011-04-06. 
  2. ^ Mayne, William (2000) A Year and a Day. London: Walker Books; p. 4
  3. ^ Wainwright, Martin (2004-05-05). "Children's author jailed for sex attacks". London: The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/may/05/books.booksforchildrenandteenagers. Retrieved 21 February 2010. 
  4. ^ "Shamed author found dead". Darlington & Stockton Times. Newsquest. 2010-03-24. http://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.co.uk/news/5081618.Shamed_author_found_dead/. Retrieved 2010-03-24. 
  5. ^ Mayne, William (2000) A Year and a Day. London: Walker Books; p. 4
  6. ^ Illustrated by Krystyna Turska. London: Hamish Hamilton

[edit] External links


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