At 86 years of age, Norah Cook, retired Bristol classics teacher wrote a book - A Hand on My Shoulder - which is now in the libraries of almost every prison in Britain and has become an inspiration for many of the inmates.
The book, co-authored with Vera Frampton, explores how God communicates with people using stories from around the world. It was originally produced at the request of schools, but before long it was also being sent out to prisons throughout Britain, as well as other parts of Europe and Africa, where chaplains discovered the simple and direct stories of faith and spiritual discovery were proving popular with many of the cell occupants.
Her writing stemmed from a passionate commitment to young people and to education and was based on her own firm and unstinting faith. She was a long time supporter of the Oxford Group, later to become Moral Re-Armament – which she first met in the 1930`s.
