William Mayne

William James Carter Mayne (16 March 1928 – 24 March 2010) was an English writer of children's fiction. The first novel he published was in 1957, named "The Grass Rope". The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature calls him one of the outstanding children's authors of the 20th century.The Times Literary Supplement reportedly called him "the most original good writer for young people in our time". The contemporary children's author Aidan Chambers calls him "notoriously little read by children and much read by adults", essentially an observer and watcher.The Guardian Children's Book Editor Julia Eccleshare calls him "one of the most highly regarded writers" and influential although "sometimes thought of as inaccessible for his young readers". He once said, "All I am doing is looking at things now and showing them to myself when young."

Mayne was born in Hull, the son of a doctor. He attended school until the age of 17 but "the only part of his education he valued" was five years at the choir school attached to Canterbury Cathedral; those experiences were the foundation for his Choir School series of four novels. The school was evacuated during World War II from Kent to Cornwall. He lived for most of his life in North Yorkshire.

In 2004 he was imprisoned for two and a half years and placed on the British sex offenders registry for life after admitting sexual abuse of "young girl fans" (11 indecent assaults). According to The Guardian, the prosecutor "said Mayne had treated young visitors as adults". He was also described in the courtroom as "the greatest living writer of children's books in English". According to Eccleshare, "Mayne's books were largely deliberately removed from shelves from 2004 onwards", after his conviction.

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