Mayle started out writing a series of educational books for children, including sex education books and others discussing issues like life and death. Publisher Alfred A Knopf announced on Twitter on Thursday night that Mayle died in a hospital near his home in the south of France after a short illness.Ī statement read: “We are sad to report that Peter Mayle, the beloved writer who wrote multiple best-selling books about life in Provence, died early today at a hospital near his home in the south of France.

In 2002 the author was awarded a Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur by the French government for services to French culture. At the beginning, it was really quite exciting … Then it just increased in volume until we were getting four, five, six visits a day.” In an interview with the Baltimore Sun in 1996, he said: “We had people coming up the drive from Japan, from Australia, from Germany, from Sweden, from England, from America. His works proved so popular that he later bought a home in Long Island, New York, to escape crowds of sightseers at his French cottage. Sir Ridley Scott paid tribute to his friend and neighbour, A Year In Provence author Peter Mayle (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Originally from Sussex, the author moved to France in the late 1980s and wrote several follow-on books inspired by his love for the country, including Toujours Provence and Encore Provence. “It was quite true about the French, and it was quite true about the British.”Ī Year In Provence had previously been turned into a TV series starring John Thaw in 1993. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: “It was all that humorous competitive spirit between the French and the English that Peter captured brilliantly. The 2006 film A Good Year, directed by Sir Ridley and starring Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard, was based on Mayle’s best-seller A Year In Provence. The film director, Mayle’s friend and neighbour, said his writing had depicted Anglo-French competitiveness “brilliantly”.

Sir Ridley Scott has paid tribute to author Peter Mayle, who has died at the age of 78 after a brief illness.

A year in provence show