| James C. Mays | |
| Birth Date: | 19 November 1953 |
| Nationality: | Canadian |
| Occupation: | Historian |
James C. Mays (November 19, 1953 – January 18, 2022) was a bilingual Canadian historian whose primary works focus on the domestic automotive industry.[1] He lived in the Old Sandwich Town district of Windsor, Ontario from 2004.[2]
Mays earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Andrews University in Michigan (1975). He taught elementary school in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia before graduating with a Master of Education degree from Concordia University in Montreal (1984).[3]
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.[4]
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.[4] In 1998, Mays won a Golden Quill Award as editor of a national antique car club magazine.[5]
The author of six cookbooks, Mays won Vogue magazine’s Millennium Food & Beverage Award for his 1999 release, You Can’t Get Mad Vegan Disease.[6] He offered cooking classes to the public in the 1990s.[7] He began teaching vegan gourmet cooking classes through the Windsor, Ontario 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.[8] His centennial offering, Ford and Canada: 100 Years Together, received critical acclaim.[9] [10]
In 2002, Mays donated his automobilia collection to the University of Windsor.[11] In 2006, Mays suffered cardiac problems and a stroke. 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.[12] [13] 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 Bicentennial Committee for the region and wrote the history column for the Scoop, a Windsor labour newspaper.
Mays has shows on CBC Radio One in Windsor and Whitehorse, Yukon. 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.
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.