Joan Elizabeth Anderson was born in 1938 to Dr. Leon and Beulah Anderson in Wilmington, Delaware, where she and her siblings lived for many years. She attended Wilmington Elementary and Howard High Schools. The Anderson family moved to Ardencroft, a suburb of Claymont, Delaware in 1952. Joan and two sisters became part of the landmark integration of the Claymont High School on September 4, 1952. This event was the first court-mandated integration of a public school in the United States. After graduation, she attended Fisk University for two years and then transferred to and graduated from Boston University in 1960. New York was her next and last stop. She worked as an actress on soap operas, a counselor in a drug rehabilitation center, accounting departments at AICPA, major league baseball and Landor. In 1978, she graduated from the L.I. Bible School, and taught Sunday School classes. Presently, Joan is a writer and motivational speaker.