William Mayne

William James Carter Mayne

Life Mayne was born in Hull, the son of a doctor. He was educated between 1937 and 1942 at the choir school attached to Canterbury Cathedral, with Who's Who adding "then irregularly". The school was evacuated during the Second World War from Kent to Cornwall. He left school aged seventeen, but the only part of his education he valued was the five years at the choir school, which were later the foundation for his four Choir School novels. and a five-part television series of Earthfasts was broadcast by the BBC in 1994.

After 1957, Mayne wrote mostly under his own name, but he also used the names Dynely James, Charles Molin, and Martin Cobalt.

The contemporary children's author Aidan Chambers calls Mayne "notoriously little read by children and much read by adults", essentially an observer and watcher.

Awards 1957 Carnegie Medal, A Grass Rope