George Harrison Cook

George Harrison Cook was an American preacher, singer, church musician, and gospel-tune composer whose biography is much less fully documented than Henry J. Zelley's. Hymnary's person authority gives his life dates as 1864–1948, states that he was converted at fourteen, and describes his work as combining preaching, singing, composition, and church music. The same authority places his death at Ocean Grove, New Jersey.

Cook's best-documented contribution to hymnody is the tune SUNLIGHT, published in 1899 with Zelley's “Heavenly Sunlight.” A later biographical tradition preserved by Hymnary says that Cook composed the melody first and asked his friend Zelley to supply words. The surviving first publication confirms their collaboration and the original pairing of text and tune, although the exact circumstances in which they created the song are not documented by a known contemporary letter or diary.

Hymnary indexes several tunes under Cook's name, but SUNLIGHT has by far the widest circulation. Reliable information about his education, denominational affiliation, and particular ministry appointments remains limited, so those details should not be supplied speculatively.