Ferenc Máté

Ferenc Máté (born 1945 in Hungary) escaped Hungary after the revolution with his mother to Vancouver, British Columbia. He has lived in British Columbia, California, New York City, Paris, and Rome, and now resides on a wine estate in Tuscany with his wife, painter and winemaker Candace Máté, and their son, Peter. For much of their first twenty years together, Máté and his wife lived on sailboats, traveling the world, photographing and occasionally publishing books and calendars on sailboats. His first book, From a Bare Hull, 1970, is still considered one of the best books on boat-building ever written. In addition to sailing books, Máté has written a memoir about adjusting to Italian life, an international bestsellerThe Hills of Tuscany, and a book-length essay on the environmental impact of the excesses of modern lifestyles, A Reasonable Life. His first novel, Ghost Sea (W. W. Norton, 2006) is the first of a series of anthropological thrillers involving an outlaw sea captain, Dugger. He is now writing the next volume, Sea of Lost Dreams, set in Tahiti. In 2007, he published A Vineyard in Tuscany, which tells the Máté's story of renovating a 13th-century house and starting a now world-renowned winery.

His newest book, The Wisdom of Tuscany: Simplicity, Security and the Good Life—Making the Tuscan Lifestyle Your Own (W.W. Norton & Company; October 20, 2009) examines our chaotic, crises-driven society and offers the best alternatives based on centuries-old Tuscan tradition. Máté emphasizes the importance of small communities, independence, closeness to nature, and cuisine as important factors in a healthy and happy lifestyle.

Books by Ferenc Máté

• Seven Seas Sailors' Calendars, published annually
• From A Bare Hull: How To Build A Sailboat (1975)
• Waterhouses (1977)
• The Finely Fitted Yacht: The Boat Improvement Manual, Volumes 1 and 2 (1978)
• Shipshape: Art of Sailboat Maintenance (1982)
• The World's Best Sailboats: Volume 1 (1987, Volume 2 (2003)
• Best Boats (1990)
• The Hills of Tuscany (1999)
• A Reasonable Life: Toward a Simpler, Secure, More Humane Existence (1992)
• Autumn: A New England Journey (2001)
• Ghost Sea: A Dugger/Nello Novel (2006)
• A New England Autumn (2007)
• A Vineyard in Tuscany: A Wine Lover's Dream (2007)
• The Wisdom of Tuscany: Simplicity, Security and the Good Life—Making the Tuscan Lifestyle Your Own (2009)
• A New England Autumn: A Sentimental Journey (2010 W.W. Norton)
• "Sea of Lost Dreams: A Dugger/Nello Novel" (2011)
• "A REAL LIFE, Restoring What Matters: Family, Good Friends and a True Community" (2011)