Where Was Ann Turner Cook Born?

Ann Turner Cook was an American educator and mystery author who was most known as the model for the iconic Gerber Baby artwork, which appeared on baby food containers produced by Gerber Products Company.

Cook worked as an elementary school teacher in Oak Hill, Florida, and later as a junior high school teacher at Madison, in Tampa, Florida.

As a high school English teacher in Tampa, Hillsborough High School, she rose to the position of chairwoman of the English department in 1966.

Cook, who supported the yearbook, was honored by the students of Hilsborean High School in 1972.

For her efforts, students referred to her as a teacher they could “truly trust,” as well as someone who worked long hours without complaint and “quietly aided her colleagues in their gigantic endeavor”.

Cook became a novelist after retiring from teaching. MWA-member Brandy O’Bannon was the author of several mystery books set on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Trace Their Shadows and Shadow over Cedar Key chronicle the experiences of O’Bannon, a Florida reporter and amateur sleuth, respectively (2003)

She was married to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office criminologist James Cook until his death in 2004. They had a family of four.

On June 3, 2022, at the age of 95, Cook died in her home in St. Petersburg, Florida.