Dragonwagon is the daughter of the writers Charlotte and Maurice Zolotow and sister of professional poker player Steve Zolotow. Although many of her cookbooks include non-vegetarian recipes, she has been a vegetarian since the age of 22.
Dragonwagon and her late husband, Ned Shank, owned Dairy Hollow House, a country inn and restaurant in the Ozark Mountain community of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Dragonwagon later co-founded the non-profit Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow, and was active in the cultural and literary life of Arkansas throughout the 31 years she lived in the state full-time.
