Pearl Allen Andree:
Storyteller and Family Historian
Born Iralene Pearl Allen on the first day of spring, March 21, 1927, Pearl Allen Andree (affectionately known as “Grandma Pearl”) dedicated her life to collecting and sharing stories of heritage, faith, and family. A professional storyteller with decades of experience, she combined her love of performance with deep research into her own family’s past, interviewing siblings and documenting personal histories to create Maud and Pearl.
Her lifelong commitment to preserving family stories makes this work not just a book but a cultural artifact for biography lovers and genealogists alike.
Notes From the Author
"As I write this, I am fairly sure that I am late in my life. I suppose when I took that correspondence course in children’s literature, that I realized I wanted to write about my mother. It was before 1988, the time that I gave away spiral notebooks of stories to others at the Pinetop Allen reunion.
Mama had formed me as a child. Then, I wasn’t raised to talk about myself. But here I am.
About the same time as the reunion, while continuing correspondence with our friends the Pinkertons, and having also sent them a spiral notebook at Christmas, I decided that I was interested in professional storytelling. So, I joined the National Public Storytelling Association, which is now the National Storytelling Network.
When this occurred, of course I had already gone back and completed college, which my older brother Leo had always wanted me to do. I started putting stuff together, parts of stories.
My son Danny keeps wanting me to refocus now, and I am cranky with him, but I know he’s helping me.
I was able to correct some of my own stories with the stories of the Allen family. The main thing is, that was because life is a story that their lives told me.
And really, there are stories out there in the air, all you’ve got to do is find them.”
-Pearl Allen Andree
(Note: the author dictated this narrative on January 12, 2025. Three weeks later, she passed away.)
Maud and Pearl:
The Matriarch and the Odyssey
This non-fiction American family saga tells the story of Pearl’s mother, Maud Hall Allen, and the Allen family’s journey through hardship and perseverance. Edited by her son, Dan Goggin, and published by Tranquility Press, the book brings to life the struggles and triumphs of generations past.