My footlight follies with Rackheath Players  in the 1970s  mustered a passing nod as I compared lines with someone watching closely in the village hall  wings.

I recall Simon Bell as a rather shy lad on the fringes of cultural capers orchestrated by his drama-loving  parents, Now he’s centre stage in a major role he’s penned for himself after determined  years of tugging together many  rewarding creative strands.

His father, Ted Bell, was my boss at work on the EDP and Evening News  in Norwich, a kindly and gifted sports editor who fed enthusiasms rather than dwell on obvious shortcomings.

He and wife Bunny, perhaps a little less forgiving when it came to accepting others  acting the fool, worked overtime to steer me and many others towards proper use of disparate talents.

Daughter Julie Dignum has embraced the family legacy with 50 years of enthusiasm so far, leading roles including wardrobe mistress and producer. Simón had his hours in the spotlight but  preferred off-stage duties and decided that a love of performance would have to be expressed in some other manner.

He struggled at school after being diagnosed with short sight and admits childhood was “bit of a muddle ”before he scraped into university in 1978 as a UEA  mature student but ended up with 2/1 degree and eventually a PhD. He also gained a Masters from City University in London and became a Fellow of the British Computer Society and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Simon’s degree in development studies  set him up for his first work in over 40 developing countries.

As a student and then  consultant and lecturer he worked on projects mainly related to his other interest, technology and computers. Later on he  became associated with measuring sustainability and co-authored a best-selling book on the topic.

Travelling the world as a working academic led to a host of scary adventures in troubled places like Ethiopia, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Cuba.

He recalls sitting surrounded  by men with Kalashnikovs on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border, guns, grenades and knives fell out of their clothing when they crouched down.

A guy walked up and offered a full apology, admitting: “Guns are our weakness”

No matter how far or often Simon went away, he always returned to  Norfolk and in 1996 made a big move to the Open University - and eventually reached full professor status. The post meant he could remain living on his home patch  He remains a firm champion of  the mission and institution  of the Open University.

Gradually this seasoned academic, global gadabout and twice chief executive officer of the Bayswater Research Institute in London realised s prolific writing output could emerge from such a wide and diverse  range of topics.  

Inspired by an excerpt  from Lord of the Rings  studied at school, he went for fiction, but based on things that he knew. and  relished freedom to  think and explore ideas free of constraints imposed by rigour and discipline  of academic furrows.  

So far Simon has written five linked novels (a dystopian quintet), two memoirs and a novella. His first published volume  sits proudly on the launching pad waiting for like-minded companions.

The Epilogue Event, published by The Book Guild Ltd, features a global apocalypse caused by Artificial Intelligence, a current matter of major concern among so many,  and resulting in the mental slavery of 95pc of humanity.

It carries unsettling echoes of nightmare visions created in classics like George Orwell’s 1984 and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

Set on the streets of west London and in a research facility near Norwich, Simon Bell’s powerful addition to the genre  plots how a virus which will infect the world  is spread by exploiting the receptive mindset encouraged by social media.

The story is effectively organised as a thriller but the narrative is centred around four ordinary people, three love affairs, two acts of betrayal and one attempt at redemption.

First book of the AI Aftermath Series takes pride of place at the Jarrold book department on Saturday, July 6 when the author hosts a celebration of Norfolk writing between 11am and 1pm.

That shy lad in the wings at Rackheath has certainly got his act together now with countless good lines to share in front of large gatherings.

Simon’s wife Rachel Furze is an accomplished abstract artist and recently staged a successful exhibition of her work in Norwich. The couple attracted labels of “green crusaders” in 2005 when they put up the first domestic wind turbine in south Norfolk at their home in Wicklewood.