The Rev'd Nan Good

The Reverend Nan Good was born in Australia on 20 January, 1930. She has worked in amateur and professional theatre and as a speech therapist. She was trained at the Lincoln Institute, where she later lectured in speech pathology.

In 1983, through a series of life-changing incidents, she became Chaplain to the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne and began studying theology, in which she now has a Master's degree. It was from her experiences during this time that the narratives in this book were taken, although, as she points out, each story is an amalgam and does not refer specifically to any one person. However, the descriptions of her reactions and difficult personal journey through chaplaincy and her relationship with God are both deeply felt and movingly described, with a sometimes painful honesty.

Nan was ordained Deacon in 1986 and Priest, with the first women so ordained, in Melbourne in 1992. After retiring from the Royal Women's Hospital in 1995 and moving into the Heathglen Retirement Village, Werribee, she became a worshipper at St Thomas' Anglican Church and gradually took on some assisting activities there. She is deeply involved with all aspects of Church life, particularly with the Cursillo movement.

She has two children (having been married and divorced) and three grandchildren. Amongst her range of interests are embroidery, sculpture (she has had two exhibitions), making beautiful things and writing.

At this point in her life she says, "I treasure my family and my friends and the older I grow the more my faith means to me."