Lewis Victor Mays, Jr. (1927-2015) was born in New York City. As a child he was inspired to draw by the illustrations of such artists as N. C. Wyeth, Arthur Rackham, and Anton Otto Fischer. Besides drawing, Mays' other great interests as a young man were boats and the water. When he graduated he joined the U.S. Navy just before the end of World War II and he was sent to Ohio State University for officer training. Mays transferred to Yale in 1946 and took his Bachelor of Arts degree from there in 1949 with a combined major in history, English and art. He again served in the Navy during the Korean War from 1952 to 1954 and afterward remained in the Naval Reserve as an officer and eventually attained the rank of captain.
Following his discharge from active duty he concentrated on free-lance illustration. He is known for historically accurate illustrations having illustrated more than eighty books for other authors, not counting book jackets and magazine illustrations. From 1977 he exclusively devoted his talents to watercolors of a marine historical nature, and his more recent works are now seen in art galleries instead of books.
In the 1950's he wrote 3 novels for young adults, one of which is HNF.
Age of Sail: Fiction
AOS Naval Fiction |
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| Series: n/a | ||
| Year | Book | Comment |
| 1813 | Action Starboard | Young Tobias Ives is making his first voyage as a cabin boy on his father's ship the Cormorant |
Modern Era: Fiction
Modern Era Naval Fiction |
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| Series: n/a | ||
| Year | Book | Comment |
| Dead Reckoning | A New England boy suddenly becomes an involved in top secret military work. | |