Gratitude and Grace Renews Interest in Mayne

Devoted readers of Michael Mayne, the former Dean of Westminster Abbey who lived in Salisbury for ten years before his death in 2006, have a new way to enjoy this hugely inspirational writer’s work.

The newly published book, Gratitude and Grace: The Writings of Michael Mayne by Joel Huffstetler, is now available at Sarum College Bookshop in Salisbury’s Cathedral Close.

“Michael Mayne’s books have been popular with our customers for years,” says Jenny Monds, Sarum College bookshop manager. “His last book, The Enduring Melody, the poignant account of his final illness, is especially so. I’m delighted that readers are enjoying Huffstetler’s book and rediscovering Mayne’s other wonderful work.”

“It pleases me greatly to learn that my book on the writings of Michael Mayne is receiving such a warm reception in Salisbury,” says Huffstetler, who is rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Cleveland, Tennessee. “My wife Debbie and I travel to the UK nearly annually and Salisbury is frequently on our itinerary. We even included your city in our honeymoon in November 1997.”

The first book-length treatment of Mayne’s writings, Gratitude and Grace offers an introduction and overview of his five books – bestsellers whose appeal went beyond religious readership.

The author A.N. Wilson wrote, “If more Christians had Michael Mayne’s gentleness and intelligence, the churches would be fuller”. And in his foreword to Pray, Love, Remember, Alan Bennett writes of his ‘emotional attachment’ to the Church of England and the particular relevance of Mayne’s passages on faith and intellectual honesty.

Mayne’s first book, A Year Lost and Found (l987), a frank reflection on his experience of ME (chronic fatigue syndrome), has helped many who suffer directly or indirectly from this illness which is scantly understood or believed credible by many doctors.

Huffstetler’s introduction and overview will appeal to both first-time and seasoned readers of Mayne’s books, which Brother Patrick Moore, scholar-in-residence at Sarum College, describes as “starting point of Mayne studies for years to come”.

Gratitude and Grace: The Writings of Michael Mayne is available at Sarum College Bookshop, 19 The Close, Salisbury, for £11.95.