Writing Made Them Rich #5: Peter Mayle by Michael Southon
Peter Mayle was born in England in 1939.
His fascination with France began at the age of seventeen when, as the 'lowliest trainee' in Shell, he was instructed to accompany his boss - a Mr. Jenkins - on a trip to Paris, and discovered that there was more to life than fish-and-chips. Jenkins, needless to say, was a caricature of the Englishman abroad ("personally, I never eat anything I can't pronounce").
In his twenties he went to New York and became advertising copywriter for David Ogilvy. He later returned to England to a comfortable life in advertising, with a salary higher than the Prime Minister's.
At age 35, after 'one committee meeting too many', he left his career as an advertising executive and moved with his wife and children to Devon in the south of England to write children's books.
In 1974 one of his books - 'Where Did I Come From' - became a best-seller, but because of an unfavorable deal with the publisher, the book didn't make him wealthy.
In his late 40's Peter Mayle moved with his third wife to Provence in the south of France, where they renovated an old farmhouse.
Their experiences became the subject for 'A Year in Provence' which was an instant success and spent three years on the New York Times best-seller list. It was translated into twenty languages and turned into a BBC series.
'A Year in Provence' was followed by 'Toujours Provence' and 'Encore Provence'.
But his new-found fame came at a cost. Hordes of tourists and reporters descended on Provence looking for the writer and his house.
Not realizing the book would become a best-seller, Peter Mayle had given an accurate description of the location of his house in the opening pages of 'A Year In Provence'.
Plagued with unwanted visitors, and suddenly unpopular with the locals, Peter Mayle fled with his wife to Long Island.
Four years later, when the hue and cry had died down, he returned to France and bought a large house near Avignon.
Peter Mayle's success with the Provence books spawned a new genre in travel writing - books by Englishmen who leave the cold wet island, set up house in sunnier climes and then write about the curious habits of the locals. There's even a phrase for it: "Doing a Peter Mayle".
You can get your copy of 'A Year in Provence' at:
http://www.ezine-writer.com/mayle.html
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Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for
over 3 years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters
how to use this simple technique to build a successful
online business. Click here to find out more:
http://www.unicorn-ventures.com/o.cgi?i=mhsouthon
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