Michael Clement Otway Mayne KCVO (10 September 1929 – 22 October 2006) was an English priest of the Church of England who served as the Dean of Westminster.

Mayne was the son of a country vicar in Northamptonshire who threw himself from his church tower when his son was very young.

Mayne was educated at The King's School, Canterbury and later at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and Cuddesdon Theological College, Oxford.

Mayne served his curacy at St John's Harpenden (1957–1959) and then spent six years as chaplain to Mervyn Stockwood, Bishop of Southwark (1959–1965). In 1965, newly married, he became vicar of the Parish of Norton, Letchworth Garden City, where he carried out an effective ministry for the next seven years.

In 1972 Mayne was made the head of religious programmes for BBC Radio and in 1979 he became the vicar of Great St. Mary's, the university church of Cambridge.

In 1986 he was invited by Queen Elizabeth II to become Dean of Westminster Abbey, a position he held until 1996. During his tenure he selected various people to be commemorated in the abbey, including Oscar Wilde, Alexander Pope, Edward Lear, Robert Herrick and Matthew Arnold. On his retirement in 1996 he was made Dean Emeritus of Westminster and also received his KCVO.

During his 50s Mayne was diagnosed with ME and wrote a book about his experiences living with the syndrome (A Year Lost and Found). In 2005 he was diagnosed with terminal cancer of the jaw, and this led him to write a book about his battle with cancer (The Enduring Melody).^[1]

Bibliography [edit]

• A Year Lost and Found ISBN 0-232-51747-9
• This Sunrise of Wonder: A Quest for God In Art and Nature ISBN 0-00-627870-1
• Pray, Love, Remember ISBN 0-232-52270-7
• The Enduring Melody ISBN 0-232-52687-7

References [edit]

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