Born in 1909, Dorothea Johnston Snow, a native of McMinnville, began writing professionally during the Great Depression. In 1944 her first book, No-Good, The Dancing Donkey, was published. She illustrated children's magazines, coloring books, and greeting cards, and she drew paper dolls. At various times during her career she wrote fairy tales, biographies, adventure stories, and mysteries. An educator, illustrator, and author of more than 45 books, she was inspired by her childhood homes to write about life in the southern Appalachian Mountains.