Known For: American country music singer-songwriter and author

About: Born Yvonne Vaughan in 1945, this Mount Airy native attended High Point College and then headed west. After graduating from the University of Southern California she taught at a California high school, eventually heading its English department. While teaching days, she performed nights in clubs. She penned her breakthrough song, “The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A,” which soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Country Music Chart and to No. 11 on the Billboard Pop Chart. Her follow-up single “Funny Face” also peaked at No. 1 and became an even bigger pop hit. Donna then placed more than a dozen singles, most of which she wrote, in the Country Top Ten. She became ill and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1978, but with her husband’s help and her faith, grew better. She resumed a slower singing schedule but still enjoyed less dramatic musical successes through the 1980s. The North Carolina Music Hall of Famer’s awards include a Grammy, a Country Music Association award, and five Academy of Country Music awards. She’s also written several inspirational books, the most recent published in 2010. She has a line of greeting cards and a stretch of highway named after her in Mount Airy.

Quote: “Too often people try to change the big world without trying to change their small world first.”