Mayne's first novel, Follow the Footprints, was published in 1953. Mayne was found dead at his home in Thornton Rust, North Yorkshire, on the morning of 24 March 2010. According to The Guardian, "Mayne's books were largely deliberately removed from shelves from 2004 onwards", as a result of his conviction. On conviction, Mayne was imprisoned for two and a half years and was placed on the sex offenders registry for life. Mayne had pleaded guilty to the charges, but his solicitor said he had done so while under huge stress and would try to clear his name. He was described in the courtroom as "the greatest living writer of children's books in English". According to The Guardian, the prosecutor said Mayne had "treated young visitors as adults". At trial one victim gave evidence of events some forty years in the past. In 2004, Mayne was charged with eleven counts of indecent assaults of "young girl fans" aged between eight and sixteen. He lived for most of his life in North Yorkshire. The school was evacuated during the Second World War from Kent to Cornwall. 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. Mayne was born in Hull, the son of a doctor. In 2004, he was convicted of sexual abuse. The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature calls him one of the outstanding children's authors of the 20th century and The Times Literary Supplement reportedly called him "the most original good writer for young people in our time". William James Carter Mayne (16 March 1928 – 24 March 2010) was an English writer of children's fiction.
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