Jacqueline Herman

I grew up in the town of Fallsburg in Sullivan County and have had a varied career journey. I became a vegetarian during the Vietnam War when I was a protester, and that became the fulcrum of my life. I studied art at a progressive college in Sarasota, then joined a vegan community before moving to California where I attended massage school and developed a clientele in Beverly Hills. I decided to upscale myself and started taking business classes, eventually majoring in accounting at SUNY New Paltz. I worked for an insurance company and was sent to Boston for training, then transferred to Fort Lauderdale where I lived at a country club. After being laid off, I got a full scholarship at SUNY Albany for graduate school and earned a degree in taxation. I worked as an accountant for the state student loan office, computing interest income on multi-million dollar bank accounts. After moving back to Sullivan County, I worked various jobs including at a card and gift store, as an auditor, and got my tax license with Liberty Tax. I worked for P&M Accounting and then found my passion in writing. I applied to the River Reporter with a writing sample and they were very happy with my work, sending me out to cover store openings in Kauneonga Lake, Monticello, and WJFF. I've been working for the Democrat for three and a half years since 2023, but had to stop in November after breaking my wrist. I'm a self-taught writer who took only one creative writing class, and I've written four short stories, four blogs for the River Reporter on topics like the history of gold and the penny, and I design crossword puzzles. I'm also a member of Alchemy Poets and some of my poems are being published in their book. I do portrait art of celebrities, creative photography, and have a collection from California using darkroom techniques. I'm currently focusing on healing and looking for opportunities to progress my career in a communication role.