May, Gary 1944-

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May, Gary 1944-

PERSONAL:

Born December 24, 1944, in Los Angeles, CA; son of Arthur (an executive) and June (a homemaker) May; married, May 6, 1973; wife's name Gail; children: Joanna Beth, Jeffrey Ben. Education: University of California, Los Angeles, B.A., 1966, M.A., 1969, Ph.D., 1974.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Newark, DE. Office—Department of History, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716. Agent—John W. Wright, John W. Wright Literary Agency, 1133 Broadway, Ste. 1124, New York, NY, 10010. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Educator and historian. Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, instructor in history, 1974-75; University of Delaware, Newark, professor of history, 1975—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Allan Nevins Prize, Society of American Historians, 1975, for China Scapegoat.

WRITINGS:

China Scapegoat: The Diplomatic Ordeal of John Carter Vincent, introduction by John K. Fairbank, New Republic Books (Washington, DC), 1979.

Un-American Activities: The Trials of William Remington, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1994.

The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

Gary May is an American educator and historian. A longtime faculty member at the University of Delaware, May has written several biographies of individuals with dubious relations with the government. His first book, China Scapegoat: The Diplomatic Ordeal of John Carter Vincent, was published in 1979.

In 1994 May published Un-American Activities: The Trials of William Remington. The biography covers the life of William Remington, an American Department of Commerce employee who was targeted in the 1950s' anticommunist witch hunts. Starting from his days at Dartmouth College, Remington argued in favor of communism. After he earned a position with the U.S. government, he was labeled a communist by Elizabeth Bentley, a former Soviet agent who was listing hundreds of names of American communists for the FBI. Remington was put on trial and found guilty of perjury. After a reversal, the government refused to let him go free and tried him a second time, indifferently committing double jeopardy under the guise of protecting the country from the threat of communism. Remington was jailed after the second trial. But while an appeal was pending, he was murdered by an inmate who was reportedly enthusiastic about killing communists. Ellen Schrecker, writing in the Nation, called the story a "a riveting account," adding that "May makes a strong case" in showing that Remington's ordeal was not clear cut. Schrecker believes that "unless the Russian archives hold some big surprises, it is hard to imagine that his conclusions will be thrown into question." She did point out, however, that there are larger issues at stake with the red scare in American society, noting that the book's "narrow emphasis on Remington makes his book less persuasive than it could be." Schrecker also observed that "May uses new sources, including some closely guarded grand jury records, but he tells an old story. It differs little from what many people … suspected at the time." A contributor to Publishers Weekly described the book as "a thorough and lucid study." Although the same contributor thought that May told the story "convincingly," the reviewer commented that that "he could have done more to contextualize the story." A. Scott Henderson, writing in the Historian, noted that May "persuasively argues" both sides of Remington's case. Henderson remarked that "the work's only real weakness is its failure to analyze fully what Remington's ambiguous legacy means." Henderson concluded that "May has produced a valuable and meticulously researched analysis that should be read by anyone interested in the postwar period."

In 2005 May published The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo.

Gary May told CA: "I grew up in a Hollywood family. My grandfather was a composer who was twice nominated for an Oscar for best song in 1944 and 1945. My uncle wrote for such television shows as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, M Squad, and The Fugitive, among others. I brought to my books a cinematic sensibility, a desire to tell an interesting story in a compelling, readable fashion."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, October, 1981, review of China Scapegoat: The Diplomatic Ordeal of John Carter Vincent, p. 952; October, 1995, Kenneth O'Reilly, review of Un-American Activities: The Trials of William Remington, p. 1321; June, 2006, Kenneth O'Reilly, review of The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo, p. 870.

American Journal of Legal History, April, 1995, Alonzo L. Hamby, review of Un-American Activities, p. 275.

American Studies International, October, 1995, review of Un-American Activities, p. 114.

Historian, summer, 1995, A. Scott Henderson, review of Un-American Activities.

Journal of American History, March, 1981, review of China Scapegoat, p. 966; September, 1995, Jerold Simmons, review of Un-American Activities, p. 828.

Law and History Review, spring, 1996, Arthur J. Sabin, review of Un-American Activities.

Nation, October 10, 1994, Ellen Schrecker, review of Un-American Activities, p. 393.

Progressive, March, 1980, William L. Shirer, review of China Scapegoat, p. 57.

Publishers Weekly, April 18, 1994, review of Un-American Activities, p. 53.

Reviews in American History, March, 1996, Richard M. Fried, review of Un-American Activities, p. 156.

Times Literary Supplement, August 19, 1994, Ronald Radosh, review of Un-American Activities, p. 9.