Laurie Glenn Norris
writer
tel.: 506-470-4640
 





Laurie Glenn Norris was born in River Hebert, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, and raised in the tiny community of Lower Cove, on Cumberland County's Fundy shore. She holds undergraduate degrees in anthropology and education and a master's degree in art history, and has taught Renaissance art history at the University of New Brunswick. Laurie shares her home overlooking the Mactaquac Headpond on the St. John River with a pride of cats and husband Barry.

 

 

 

Why I Write

 

I write because it takes me outside of myself. I get out of my own way and forget about what bothers me. When I'm writing I feel that I'm doing exactly what I should be. While I may not agree with his politics, I share the feelings Machiavelli expressed about writing in 1513. In a letter to a friend, he wrote, "For hours I do not feel boredom, I forget every trouble, I do not dread poverty, I am not frightened by death; entirely I give myself over to [it]."

 

To partake in something unselfconsciously and for the pure joy of it is why I write.

Haunted Girl has arrived! 

 

In 1878 eighteen-year-old Esther Cox was at the centre of a number of unexplained occurrences that plagued the Amherst, Nova Scotia, home of her sister and brother-in-law. Something or someone knocked on the walls, hid household items, moved furniture around, and set fires. Esther herself was subject to mysterious fevers, prodding, and in one occasion, stabbing. These manifestations followed her when she went to stay with other families in the area. Eventually she was charged with robbery and spent a month in jail, after which the haunting ceased.

 

Was Esther the victim or paranormal powers or the troubled mind behind a series of elaborate hoaxes? At the time of her alleged haunting, the plausibility of Esther Cox’s claims was hotly debated in newspapers, and by fellow Amherst residents. In the hundred years since her death, Esther’s story had been retold numerous times and she remains to this day the town’s most infamous historical figure.

 

Barb Thompson and I examine the mystery at the heart of the Esther Cox legend, with new attention paid to Esther’s tumultuous childhood, the opportunities available to women of her time, and the rise of spiritualism and interest in the paranormal in the mid-1800s.

 

Barb did the research for the book and I wrote it. We hope you enjoy the book half as much as we enjoyed working on it. A big thank you to Nimbus Publishing in Halifax for giving us this opportunity to tell Esther’s story in a whole new way.             


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Book Launches and Signings

 

Saturday, May 12, 2012: Official Launch, Cumberland County Museum, Amherst, NS, 2 p.m.

 

Wednesday, May 16, 2012: Fredericton launch, Fredericton Public Library, Fredericton, NB, 7 p.m.

 

Saturday, June 16, 2012: Authors’ Day reading, Coles Books, Scotia Square, Halifax, NS, 11 a.m. to 12 noon

 

Wednesday, June 27, 2012: Keshen Goodman Public Library, Halifax, NS, 7 p.m.        

 

Saturday, July 14, 2012: Chatterbox Cafe, Pugwash, NS,  2 p.m.


 


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My Favourite Books

 

  1. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
  2. Persuasion, by Jane Austen
  3. Latitudes of Melt, by Joan Clarke
  4. Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, by Sarah Ban Breathnach
  5. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
  6. Random Passage, by Bernice Morgan
  7. Anne of the Island, by Lucy Maud Montgomery  
  8. The Wind Seller, by Rachael Preston
  9. The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams
  10. Bettina Bear's Bus, by Marion Coombes
  11. The Blue Castle, by Lucy Maud Montgomery

 

 
Some books about Cumberland County
that I recommend:
 
To Glory and Despair: A Novel of the Chignecto Ship Railway, by John G. McKay
To obtain a copy, please contact John at (902) 667-5804
 

 

 

My First Book!

Cumberland County Facts
and Folklore
(Nimbus Publishing)

141 pp.; $12.95
ISBN 978-1-55109-731-2

Available at any bookstore

What could

 
  • Oscar Wilde and a triploid blue-spotted salamander;
  • Leon Trotsky and the Joggins Fossil Cliffs;
  • Alex Colville and lobster claw pipes;
  • Feist and Buckley's Mixture
 

possibly all have in common? Cumberland County, of course!

 

It's one of Nova Scotia's oldest and largest counties and its personalities, history, geography, natural life and legends are second to none. It's the birthplace of Anne Murray and Feist, and in 1995 its charming village of Pugwash had a hand in winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Its shores are touched by the majestic Bay of Fundy and the beautiful Northumberland Strait, its landscape was carved by glaciers and its prehistoric climate created and preserved fossils that today are worthy of World Heritage Site designation. From Amherst to Advocate, Minudie to Malagash, Port Howe to Port Greville,
the beauty of its forests, crystal clear lakes and rivers and its pastoral scenery are a delight.         

 

Cumberland County is a Nova Scotian treasure for visitors and locals alike. So sit back and discover Cumberland County through the amusing anecdotes, fun facts, and incredible trivia on this area's rich history and culture in Cumberland County Facts and Folklore.

 

 

Reviews of

Cumberland County Facts
and Folklore

 

"Remarkably well done"

— Anne-Marie Hood, Fredericton Daily Gleaner



"I strongly recommend this book to everyone in and from Cumberland. In fact, it should be included as mandatory reading...in the public school system."

 

— Morris J. Haugg, Amherst Daily News


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See also my essay in
“Family Comes First,” in:
Breaking the Word Barrier:
Stories of Adults Learning to Read,
edited by Marilyn Lerch and
Angela Ranson
(Goose Lane Editions)

128 pp., ISBN 978-0-86492-547-3
Available at any bookstore

My other publications:

 

Anthony Flower: The Life and Art of a Country Painter (co-author, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, 2006)

 

"The International Collection," in The Beaverbrook Art Gallery Collection: Selected Works  (Beaverbrook Art Gallery, 2000)