Maye was born in 1948 in Regina, Saskatchewan. Canada. And I’m talking prairie Canada, where winter is basically a personality trait. But her parents, Dr. Joshua and Winnifred Haldeman, weren’t exactly “stay put” types. Nope. When Maye was just two years old, they packed up the family. They moved to South Africa. Why? Because her dad had a dream of exploring the Kalahari Desert. Casual.
Imagine being a toddler, leaving snow for the savanna. Her parents were adventurers. Like, real ones. They flew a single-engine plane across the world. No GPS. No Starbucks. Just pure, slightly terrifying optimism. Maye didn’t just grow up in South Africa. She grew up in a family that thought a cross-continent move was a fun weekend errand.
Desert Hikes and No Seatbelts
Now, here’s where it gets bonkers. Maye’s dad was obsessed with finding the “Lost City of the Kalahari.” So, every family vacation? They piled into a car—with no seatbelts, obviously—and drove into the desert for weeks. Maye and her siblings slept under the stars. They hunted for water. They had to survive. Not exactly a trip to Disneyland, right?
And the plane? Oh, her dad used to fly around with no doors. Because why not? Maye learned to navigate by reading maps at age five. Seriously. She’d hold the map while her dad flew. If you got lost? That was your fault. No pressure, kid. These trips taught her one thing: fear is optional. When you’ve survived a lion sighting during a picnic, a tough modeling audition feels like a breeze.
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