Peter Mayle
A former adman whose witty tales of renovating a French farmhouse sparked a global obsession with Provençal life.
1939–2018 (age 79)·British businessman and writer·Birthday: June 14·The Silent Generation
Biography
Peter Mayle executed one of the most enviable career pivots. After a successful stint in advertising in New York and London, he and his wife decamped to the Luberon region of Provence in 1987. What began as magazine articles about the comic frustrations of fixing up an old stone house evolved into 'A Year in Provence,' a book that became an international phenomenon. Mayle's genius was in capturing the sensual details—the food, the light, the wine—and the charmingly stubborn local characters with a self-deprecating, British wit. The book's massive success created a whole genre of aspirational travel memoir and inadvertently turned his corner of France into a tourist destination, a consequence he viewed with mixed feelings. He continued to write novels and memoirs, but remained forever the man who sold the dream of the sun-drenched south of France.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Peter was born in 1939, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Peter Was Born
The biggest hits of 1939
#1 Movie
Gone with the Wind
Best Picture
Gone with the Wind
Peter's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1939Born
World War II begins; The Wizard of Oz premieres
Gas: $0.19/galMin wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Over the Rainbow" — Judy GarlandBest Picture: Gone with the Wind
1944Started school
D-Day: Allied forces land at Normandy
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,400Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Swinging on a Star" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Going My Way
1952Became a teenager
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1955Could drive
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1957Could vote
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1960Turned 21
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1969Turned 30
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1979Turned 40
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1989Turned 50
Berlin Wall falls; Tiananmen Square protests
Gas: $1.00/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Look Away" — ChicagoBest Picture: Driving Miss Daisy
1999Turned 60
Columbine shooting; Y2K panic builds
Gas: $1.17/galHome: $113,900Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Believe" — CherBest Picture: American Beauty
2009Turned 70
Michael Jackson dies; Bitcoin created
Gas: $2.35/galHome: $148,500Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Boom Boom Pow" — The Black Eyed PeasBest Picture: The Hurt Locker
2018Died at 79
Royal wedding of Harry and Meghan; Parkland shooting
Gas: $2.72/galHome: $211,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"God's Plan" — DrakeBest Picture: Green Book
Key Achievements
- His book 'A Year in Provence' sold millions of copies worldwide and was adapted into a television series.
- Awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur by the French government for his cultural contributions.
- His work inspired a massive wave of tourism and real estate interest in the Luberon region of Provence.
- Authored a successful series of children's books featuring the character 'A Dog's Life.'
Did You Know?
Before moving to France, he was the creative force behind a famous series of UK ads for Cadbury's Smash instant mashed potatoes, featuring robot characters.
He and his wife were eventually driven from their first Provençal home by busloads of tourists seeking it out.
He wrote a guidebook for bachelors, 'How to Be a Pregnant Father,' long before his travel fame.
He briefly returned to advertising in the 1990s, writing copy for a French perfume brand.
“I had often dreamed of a life here, a life of long lunches in the sun, and now it was happening.”
