Frances Mayes

Frances Mayes (born March 23, 1940) is an American writer. Her 1996 memoir Under the Tuscan Sun was on the New York Times Best Seller list for over two years and was the basis for the film Under the Tuscan Sun. Frances Mayes was born on March 23, 1940 in Fitzgerald, Georgia to Garbert Mayes, a cotton mill manager, and Frankye Mayes. Mayes was the youngest of three sisters. Garbert Mayes died of cancer at age 47, when Frances was 14.Mayes initially attended Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia starting in 1958. She later transferred to the University of Florida, where she completed her BA. While at school at the University of Florida, Mayes met her first husband, William Frank King. The couple married when Mayes was 22 and relocated to California. They had one daughter, Ashley King.Mayes returned to school and earned her MA from San Francisco State University in 1975. After graduating, Mayes became Professor of Creative Writing at her alma mater San Francisco State University, as well as director of The Poetry Center and Chair of the Department of Creative Writing.Mayes and her husband William divorced in the 1980s. After her divorce, Mayes began dating Edward Kleinschmidt, a fellow poet and professor employed at nearby Santa Clara University.In 1989, Mayes bought a historic villa named Bramasole located in Cortona, Italy. She and her partner Edward began an extensive renovation of the abandoned property, which Mayes documented in her 1996 memoire Under the Tuscan Sun. The book became a surprise hit and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over two years. The success of Under the Tuscan Sun allowed Mayes to become a full-time writer.Frances and Edward were married in 1998, and Edward took the last name Mayes.In 2007, the Mayes family moved their American residence from San Francisco to North Carolina, along with Frances's daughter Ashley. Frances and Edward Mayes currently divide their time between their homes in North Carolina and Cortona, Italy.