Jeff Maysh

Jeff Maysh (born 30 March 1982, Nassau, Bahamas) is a British-American writer, author and journalist based in Hollywood, California, United States.

Jeff Maysh
Born	(1982-03-30) 30 March 1982 (age 43) Nassau, Bahamas
Nationality	British-American
Occupations	Writer author journalist
Website	www.jeffmaysh.com

Journalism

Maysh started his career at the British men's magazine Loaded.^[1] He moved to America in 2010 to cover international crime,^[1] for publications including The Atlantic magazine.^[2]

As a correspondent for the BBC, Maysh became the first journalist to enter the notorious Korydallos prison, near Athens.^[3] His profile of prisoner Vassilis Paleokostas, a Greek bank robber who escaped from the prison in a helicopter, twice, was published on the BBC News Magazine on 25 September 2014.^[4][5]

Maysh's story about Steve Davies, a mythical soccer fan who scored a goal for West Ham United,^[6] was listed in the notable section of "Best American Sports Writing 2014", and voted number one in a poll of "greatest ever soccer stories".^[7]

In May 2015, Paramount Pictures acquired the movie rights to Maysh's story "The Wedding Sting". According to a report in Variety,^[8] bidding became "competitive" among Hollywood studios for the true account of a rural Michigan police department that trapped drug dealers with a fake wedding. The story was first published in The Atlantic magazinne.^[9]

In 2016, Maysh won "Best Crime Reporting" and "Best Feature (over 1,000 words)" at the 58th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards.^[10] Both awards recognised his story in Playboy magazine about a Michigan farmer who ran a $4 million smuggling operation involving counterfeit Pez dispensers.^[11][12]

Maysh's 2016 book Handsome Devil is about Victor Lustig,^[13] while the following year's The Spy With No Name is about Erwin van Haarlem, a Czechoslovak spy.^[14]

In 2018, Maysh published an 8,900-word article about a major fraud involving the McDonald's Monopoly promotion on The Daily Beast.^[15] This story of a former police officer who stole $20 million in cash and prizes became the subject of a bidding war in Hollywood.^[16] The sale of the movie rights to Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Twentieth Century Fox for $1 million was reported by The Hollywood Reporter as the highest fee ever paid for a single magazine article.^[17]

Bibliography

• Lilywhite and Blue: The History of Tottenham's Famous Shirt. Jeff Maysh Books. 2010. ISBN 978-0956684202.
• Handsome Devil. Kindle singles. 2016. ASIN B01CR9PQ6Y.
• The Spy With No Name: The Cold War and a Case of Stolen Identity. Kindle singles. 2017. ASIN B01NBR1CNV.