Jay Presson Allen was among other things a screenwriter, television producer and novelist. She was one of few women making a living as a screenwriter at a time when women were a rarity in the profession. She was born as Jacqueline Presson, the only child of Willie Mae, a buyer, and Albert Jack Presson, a department store merchant. She wrote the screenplay for Lord of the Flies (1990) under the pseudonym Sara Schiff.