James C. Mays (November 19, 1953 – January 18, 2022) was a bilingual Canadian historian whose primary works focus on the domestic automotive industry. He lived in the

Old Sandwich Town Sandwich Town (Olde Sandwich Towne) is located along the Canada–US border of the Detroit River, and was established in 1797.Windsor Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (WACAC). ''Historic Sandwich Town: Walk through Ontario’s oldest, ...

district of

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

from 2004.

Studies

Mays earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from

Andrews University Andrews University (Andrews) is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists and is the flag ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

(1975). He taught

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

before graduating with a

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum an ...

degree from

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

(1984).

Writing career

The author of more than 30 books, Mays is best known for his nine automotive histories—four of which detail the inner workings of the domestic industry. His marque histories emphasize the importance of the Canadian auto industry wherever possible. In 1997, Mays' articles appeared for the first time in the newspapers ''Old Autos'' and ''Old Cars Weekly''. His bylines began to appear in Canadian, French, British and American periodicals. In 1998, Mays won a Golden Quill Award as editor of a national antique car club magazine. The author of six cookbooks, Mays won

Vogue magazine ''Vogue'' (stylized in all caps), also known as American ''Vogue'', is a monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers style news, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. It is part of the global collectio ...

’s Millennium Food & Beverage Award for his 1999 release, ''You Can’t Get Mad Vegan Disease.'' He offered cooking classes to the public in the 1990s. He began teaching

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

gourmet cooking classes through the

Cultural Department in 2010. To date Mays has written nearly 1,000 automotive history articles, mainly about the Canadian automobile industry. The author founded Syam Publishing (Mays spelled backwards) in 1997 and began publishing Canadian automotive histories bypassed by mainstream publishers. His first titles were ''Rambler Canada: The Little Company That Could'' and ''the American Motors Century''. His centennial offering, ''Ford and Canada: 100 Years Together'', received critical acclaim. In 2002, Mays donated his

automobilia Automobilia (a portmanteau of the words ''automobile'' and ''memorabilia'') is any historical artifact or collectible linked with motor cars and related areas, such as motor racing and motorsport personalities. In common usage the term is taken to s ...

collection to the

University of Windsor The University of Windsor (UWindsor, U of W, or UWin) is a public university, public research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has approximately 17,500 students. The university was incorporated by ...

. In 2006, Mays suffered

cardiac The heart is a muscular organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the tissu ...

problems and a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. In 2008, he donated his large collection of rare automotive books, literature, audio-taped interviews with automotive executive and other auto memorabilia to the University of Windsor.Canadian Driver, March 24, 2008 Mays continues to lecture, write and research on a limited basis. A member of the Society of Automotive Historians and the Canadian Automotive Historians Society, Mays is also active in local history and heritage. He is a member of the South Western Ontario Heritage Council, sat on the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

Bicentennial Committee for the region and wrote the history column for the Scoop, a Windsor labour newspaper. Mays has shows on

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

in Windsor and

Whitehorse, Yukon Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's Downtown Whitehorse, downtown a ...

. His blogs include ''Old Cars Canada'' and ''The Adventures of Charles the Bear Cub''. In 2009, Mays was named Artistic Director of The Crosstown Players Theatre, Inc. and became the in-house playwright for the LGBTTQQIA theatre troupe in Windsor.

Awards and honours

In 1998 he won a Golden Quill Award. In 2002, his book, Rambler Canada was voted "best read" by the Ontario Librarian's Association. In 2016, Andrews University cited James C. Mays as one of the school's 35 most notable alumni in its 143-year history.

Selected automotive bibliography

* ''Rescued & Restored: Canadians and their Collectable Cars'' (2000) * ''Rambler Canada: The Little Company that Could'' (2002) * ''The American Motors Century'' (2002) * ''From Kenosha to the World: The Rambler, Jeffery and Nash Truck Story, 1904-1955'' (2003) * ''Ford and Canada: 100 Years Together'' (2003) * ''Ford Ranchero 1957-1979 Photo History'' (2004) * ''The Savvy Guide to Buying Collector Cars at Auction'' (2006) * ''Ford of Canada: 1904–2004 An Old Autos Pictorial Roll Call'' * ''A Car and a Refrigerator Go to War: Nash-Kelvinator in World War Two'' (2012) * ''National Snapshot: Canada and the Automobile in the 20th Century'' (http://www.nationalsnapsotcanada.blogspot.ca/)

Cookbooks

* ''Stuff I Ate at Your House'' (1995) * ''You Can’t Get Mad Vegan Disease'' (1997) * ''You Can’t Get Mad Vegan Disease, The Sequel'' (1998) * ''You Can’t Get Mad Vegan Disease, Volume Three'' (1999) * ''Have Yourself a Very Vegan Christmas'' (2001) * ''The Mad Vegan Does Dessert'' (2002)

References

External links

www.theoilspoteh.ca

www.oldcarscanada.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mays, James C. 21st-century Canadian historians Canadian male non-fiction writers Writers from Windsor, Ontario Canadian cookbook writers 1953 births Living people Andrews University alumni Concordia University alumni Automotive historians