Crescent Dragonwagon (1952- ), born Ellen Zolotow, is an author and founder of the Dairy Hollow House, a bed and breakfast in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Dragonwagon was born in New York City in 1952 to mother Charlotte Zolotow and father Maurice Zolotow. In 1970, Ellen Zolotow married Mark Parsons; the couple used the name Dragonwagon, and Ellen changed her name to Crescent at the same time. The Dragonwagons moved to a commune near Ava, Missouri, and then to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, in 1972. Crescent Dragonwagon and Mark Parsons divorced in 1975.

With Bill Haymes and husband Ned Shank, Dragonwagon founded Dairy Hollow House, which was one of the first bed and breakfasts in the Arkansas Ozarks. In 1988, they also opened a restaurant at the inn. Dairy Hollow House received national acclaim for its innovations, and Dragonwagon subsequently wrote culinary memoirs and cookbooks based on her work in the restaurant kitchen, including The Dairy Hollow House Cookbook, Soup & Bread, and The Passionate Vegetarian. In 1998, Dragonwagon and Shank established the nonprofit Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow, located in the old inn.

In addition to cookbooks and Ozarks-related journalism, Dragonwagon is also a noted author of books for children and young adults. In 1984, she published the young adult novel To Take a Dare with Paul Zindel, followed by The Year It Rained in 1985. Between 1971 and 2012, she published 29 children’s books.

Following Ned Shank’s death in 2000, Dragonwagon left Dairy Hollow House and moved to Vermont. She has since begun teaching workshops on writing. She returned to Arkansas in 2015 and currently lives in Fayetteville.