Peggy Vonsherie Allen

Peggy Vonsherie Allen was born the twelfth of 13 children into a sharecropper family in rural Alabama.   She vividly remembers listening to the great stories told by her parents, grandparents and especially her great grandmother, who was born into slavery in southern Alabama. Peggy, having been born with childhood rickets which caused extreme pain and limited mobility spent countless hours reading and throughly absorbed in books. This only fueled her interest in storytelling, a family tradition.

After high school, Peggy went on to attend The University of Alabama, where she received a degree in Civil Engineering, and became a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority. 

After college, and having kept a journal most of her life,  Peggy began organizing her notes into a personal memoir, "If the Lord's Willing and the Creek Don't Rise", published in 2002.  Her most recent book, "The Pecan Orchard, Journey of a Sharecropper's Daughter", published by The University of Alabama Press, was released in hardcover in 2009; and in paperback and Kindle formats in 2011.

Peggy currently resides in the metro Atlanta area and works in her chosen engineering profession. She continues to write and carry on her family tradition of storytelling.

Peggy is now working on her third book  which is due to be completed early next year. Her love for storytelling is infectious. "Allen's evocation of place, time, and characters is complete and absorbing".

-Foreword Magazine