Bob Brame

283923cb6268780d500f6a706700dea2.jpg

Writing teacher Barbara Lawing (left), stands with Helen Brame, widow of Bob Brame, as fellow members of the Monday Afternoon Writing Class sit, including Katharine Steele (center, rear), Roz Greenspon, Jo Ann Ball, Sovella Tankersley, Sheila Evans, and Eileen Friars, on February 27, 2014. Bob Brame was a member of the writing class at Cypress Retirement Center as he wrote a novel. He was the only male in the class of seniors and died shortly after he finished his book two years ago. The women in the group, moved by Brame's work, wouldn't let the book go unpublished and took up a collection to see it to print. Brame's widow Helen distributed paperbacks to each member of the class. The book's editor -- who teaches the class -- said the book "is the most dynamic fiction" she's ever edited. (AP Photo/The Charlotte Observer, David T. Foster, III)