May met her future husband Hugh in 1931 in Edinburgh while rehearsing for a play in Cowan House, a university residence for men, where Hugh was operating the stage lights. She had already, at 19, acted in a skit at Edinburgh University where she later obtained her MA degree. When in 1934, during his first years at the University of Cambridge, Hugh came down with tuberculosis, the thought of leaving her man never entered May's mind. May's mother allowed her to stay at Girton College until Hugh got into a sanatorium. In 1937, during another Cambridge visit while helping Hugh with the preparation of cosmic radiation equipment to be flown by free balloons in Baffin Bay, May was seen by Lord Rutherford in the Cavendish Laboratory and he asked her what she was doing there. They quickly became good friends and Rutherford never failed to ask for her whenever he saw Hugh. By the time the Baffin Bay Expedition returned to Leith, the port of Edinburgh, in September 1937, May's tolerance of a long engagement had at last ended, and Hugh was told that their wedding invitations were in the mail! They were married in Edinburgh on October 23, 1937.

In Cambridge May and Hugh lived in the wisteria-covered wing of a house inhabited by Professor F.M. Cornford and his poetess wife, Frances, who was a granddaughter of Charles Darwin. With an innocent disregard for the class distinctions and the visiting-card conventions of Cambridge University circles, May made permanent friends with kindred spirits from all walks of life. She remembered one judgement made onf her: "How refreshingly uneducated Mrs. Carmichael is!" She also loved to recall that when, many years later and not so slim, she called on Hugh's old landlady, she was greeted with: "My! 'ow you've growed!"

During World War II, except for a few months in London, May stayed in Scotland, mostly with her parents. Her three oldest children - Dugald, Margaret and Elizabeth - were born in Scotland and emigrated to Canada with May in 1944. After a year in Montreal, the family came to Deep River in September 1945, and May's fourth child - Lorne - was welcomed in the Deep River Hospital in 1953.

May was one of Deep River's most vibrant first ladies and her eager participation in town activities enriched the lives of everyone. She was an enthusiastic editor of the highly successful and very professional quarterly literary review, The Deep River Review, which was published during 1946 and 1947. In the fifties and sixties, May's contribution as a member of the Public School Board was tremendous. She was a strong advocate of French language education in the Public School system and constantly encouraged the Department of Education to broaden the scope of such instruction. Teachers' working conditions were also one of her concerns and she worked hard to improve their superannuation benefits.

It is, however, memories of her long association with the Deep River Players that many people will cherish. She was a most generous co-worker and, through her encouragement and coaching of young or novice actors and actresses, she passed on her expertise and lifelong love of the theatre. Because the stage was so much a part of her life, her stage name "Mae" was her name to many. She was not only a superb actress and director, but she was also a marvellous audience for productions in which she was not involved. When the players on stage heard the first infectious, irrepressible and unmistakable chuckle, they knew they could relax. Word would be whispered backstage: "it's going well, Mae Carmichael's here tonight!"

Nevertheless, May's longest-running lead role was as a loving wife and devoted mother, and when she died peacefully at the family home at 9 Beach Avenue on August 4, 1984, her husband Hugh and her children - Dugald of Kingston, Ontario, Margaret (Mrs. W. Stuart) of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Elizabeth (Mrs. G. Cooper) of Kincardine, Ontario, and Lorne of Kingston, Ontario - were with her. She was also a marvellous grandmother to Ian and Wendy Carmichael, Elizabeth and Russell Stuart, David and Stephen Cooper, and Rayna Carmichael.

May's last role, centre stage, was played with penetrating wit, quiet dignity, and tremendous courage. She taught her family and her friends how to leave a loving audience with grace and integrity.