Although he is best known for the four years he spent as editor of McCall's, Herbert Mayes's career in magazine editing actually spanned approximately forty-two years, including twenty as editor of Good Housekeeping. During this time he displayed an extraordinary ability to transform the fortune of declining women's magazines through his selection of articles that would appeal to his readers and through his scrupulous attention to layout and appearance. Mayes considered himself a born editor and began his autobiographical work, The Magazine Maze (1980), by stating that editing is what he had always wanted to do.

Herbert Raymond Mayes was born in New York City on 11 August 1900 to Herman and Matilda Hutter Mayes. In September 1915 Mayes was enrolled in the prestigious Townsend Harris High School but had to drop out after only three months to help support his family when his father died. After working at a series of...