Alison Plunk bio

Alison Winslow Plunk was born June 4, 1975, to Thaddeus and Mary Winslow. She was the fourth of six children born to the Baptist preacher and his wife. All of the family's activities centered around Rev. Winslow's small church outside Oxford, and education was considered a top priority, second only to God, for all the Winslow children.

Growing up, Alison attended the school where she later taught after earning her teaching degree from the University of Mississippi. Alison taught for years at Oxford Middle School, where she was known as a strict disciplinarian and a no-nonsense teacher.

Alison's strict family frowned on dancing and any kind of popular music, allowing only religious, classical, and Big Band music to be played in their home. As an adult, Alison tried to break away from her conservative upbringing and volunteered to help with school dances, concerts, and plays. She met music teacher Jared Plunk at a middle school dance where they were both chaperones, and she was attracted to him because of his musical expertise.

Alison asked Jared to teach her about all the musicians and genres she had missed out on in her youth, and she enjoyed learning from him, especially about rock and the blues. Their shared interest drew them together, and the couple eventually married.

Several years later, Jared left teaching to pursue his interest in Southern music and to concentrate on exposing myths and misconceptions about musical personalities like Elvis Presley. With the two of them no longer working in the same place and Jared fully immersing himself in his new career, Alison and Jared's marriage began to suffer.

Where Alison was once enchanted by Jared's knowledge of music and musicians, by their tenth wedding anniversary, what was once charming had become annoying. The fluctuations in his freelance income left her feeling responsible for supporting both of them. The dozens of boxes full of memorabilia and vinyl records that Jared kept in their small two-bedroom home felt like oppressive clutter rather than necessary research material.

Between Jared's obsession with his work and Alison's dissatisfaction, the couple drifted apart, though there's no indication either ever filed for divorce.

Alison is an avid gardener and belongs to several garden clubs, where she is known for her skill in growing roses. She has won blue ribbons at the county fair for her roses as well as for her needlepoint. She also sells her needlepoint flower pictures at local craft shows.

She has only a few close friends and prefers to spend her spare time at home, watching TV and doing needlepoint when she's not working in her garden.