Roberta Beach Jacobson is an American journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

, humorist, and early ezine editor

Editing

Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...

.

Jacobson was born as Roberta Beach Johnson in Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....

. Her first publication came at age 8 in Jack and Jill

Jack and Jill (magazine)

Jack and Jill is a bimonthly American magazine for children 7 to 10 years old which takes its title from the nursery rhyme of the same name. It features stories and educational activities....

. After finishing high-school in 1970, she joined the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 which sent her to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. She remains an expatriate, saying "I prefer Europe. I'm where I want to be". (Travelwriters.com, 2004)

After leaving the armed forces, she followed in the footsteps of her grandfather, Robert K. Beach, and mother, Roberta Beach Johnson and became a journalist, joining the Stars & Stripes

Stars and Stripes (newspaper)

Stars and Stripes is a news source that operates from inside the United States Department of Defense but is editorially separate from it. The First Amendment protection which Stars and Stripes enjoys is safeguarded by Congress to whom an independent ombudsman, who serves the readers' interests,...

publication in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 at the news desk, and later the city desk.

During her Stars & Stripes work, Jacobson drew attention from a column entitled, "Dear Bobby" that ran from the late 1980s to the early 1990s in the Shoppers Bi-Weekly News, distributed in Europe.

In 1996 Jacobson became a full-time freelance writer working for travel publications, translating books and contributing to anthologies.

In 1999 she relocated to the remote Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 island of Karpathos

Karpathos

Karpathos is the second largest of the Greek Dodecanese islands, in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Together with the neighboring smaller Saria Island it forms the municipality Karpathos, which is part of the Karpathos peripheral unit. From its remote position Karpathos has preserved many...

, and became the editor of an early internet ezine, Kafenio. She also edited the ezines IslandMania (2001–2003) and InsiderEuropa (2001–2003).

Sources

• Travelwriters.com
• AbsoluteWrite.com
• Writing World Newsletter
• Writer's Yearbook Review
• The Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society Book review: Dying For It, Leigh Anne Wilson 2006

• Europe, AEGEAN ADVENTURES IN E-PUBLISHING.(online magazine Kafeniocom.com based in Greece), March 2001
• Stripes (Official Newsletter of The European Stars and Stripes (newspaper)) October 1987
• Stripes (Official Newsletter of The European Stars and Stripes (newspaper)) January 1991
• KIDS HAVE YOU SEEN MY BACKPACK...? and Other Inspirational Stories of Non-traditional Studies, compiled by Donna Talarico, (iUniverse, Lincoln NE, 2005) ISBN 0-595-34369-4

Education

• Associate of Science in General Studies, 1978, Northern Virginia Community College
  Northern Virginia Community College
  Northern Virginia Community College, often abbreviated NVCC and colloquially as NOVA, comprises several locations in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., and is both the second largest multi-campus community college in the United States and the largest educational institution in the...
  
  , Alexandria, Virginia
  Alexandria, Virginia
  Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
  
  
• Bachelor of Science, 1980, University of the State of New York
  University of the State of New York
  The University of the State of New York is the State of New York's governmental umbrella organization responsible for most institutions and people in any way connected with formal educational functions, public and private, in New York State...
  
  , Albany NY (external degree)
• Master of Education, 1982, Boston University European Campus, Heidelberg
  Heidelberg
  -Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
  
  , Germany
• Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study, 1986, Boston University European Campus, Heidelberg, Germany
• Doctor of Philosophy in Behavioral Science, 1993, Pacific Western University, San Diego, California
  California
  California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
  
   (external degree)

Published works

• Almost Perfect: Disabled Pets and People who love Them, Mary A. Shafer, editor (Enspirio House, Word Forge Books 2008) ISBN 978-0-9771329-2-8
• Chicken Soup for the Dieter's Soul, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Theresa Peluso, editors (HCI, 2006) ISBN 0-7573-0555-5
• Chocolate for a Woman's Heart, Kay Allenbaugh, Editor (Simon & Schuster, NYC, 2001) ISBN 0-684-84896-1
• Chocolate for a Woman's Dreams, Kay Allenbaugh, editor (Simon & Schuster, NYC, 2001) ISBN 0-7432-1777-2
• Dying for It: Tales of Sex and Death, Mitzi Szereto, editor (Avalon Publ., NYC, 2006) ISBN 1560258578
• From the Heart – Stories of Love and Friendship, compiled by Kendall Bell (Coastal Village Press, Beaufort, SC) ISBN 1-882943-15-5
• Kids, Have You Seen My Backpack? and Other Inspirational Stories of Non-Traditional Students: An Adult Learner Anthology, Donna Talarico, editor (iUniverse, Lincoln, NE, 2005) ISBN 0595343694
• Living and Working in Germany, by Nick Daws (Survival Books, London,England, 2000) ISBN 1-901130-35-5
• Mini World 2006-07, Keiji Naka, editor (Macmillan LanguageHouse, Tokyo, Japan, 2006) ISBN 4-7773-6057-1
• Rite of Passage - Tales of Backpacking 'Round Europe, Lisa Johnson, Editor (Lonely Planet Publications, London) ISBN 1-74059-593-9
• The Rocking Chair Reader - Memories from the Attic, Helen Kay Polaski, editor (Adams Media, Avon, MA) ISBN 1-59337-270-1
• Sacred Fire, Maril Crabtree, editor (Adams Media, Avon, MA, 2006) ISBN 1-59337-366-X
• Simple Pleasures of the Kitchen, collected by Susannah Seton (Conari Press, York Beach, ME) ISBN 1-57324-871-1
• Slang, Paul Dickson (Atria ,1998) ISBN 0-671-54919-7
• Stories of Strength
  Stories of Strength
  Stories of Strength is a 2005 anthology printed to raise funds for disaster relief. It was edited by Jenna Glatzer, the author of the Celine Dion biography For Keeps...
  
  , Jenna Glatzer, editor (Lulu.com, Morrisville, NC) ISBN 1-4116-5503-6
• Travelers' Tales Greece, Larry Habegger, Sean O'Reilly and Brian Alexander, editors (Travelers' Tales Books, San Francisco CA, 2000) ISBN 188521152X
• The New Official Rules, Paul Dickson (Addison-Wesley Publishing Company Inc. Boston, MA 1989) ISBN 0-201-55090-3
• Unconditional Love, compiled by Avie Townsend (Heliographica, San Francisco, CA) ISBN 1-933037-38-5
• Women Runners, Irene Reti and Bettianne Shoney Sien, editors (Breakaway Books, Halcottsville, NY, 2001) ISBN 1891369253
• The Writer's Handbook 2002 edited by Elfrieda Abbe (Kalmbach Publ., Waukesha, WI, 2001) ISBN 0-87116-189-3
• Friedemann Pfäfflin, Astrid Junge - SEX REASSIGNMENT. Thirty Years of International Follow-up Studies After Sex Reassignment Surgery: A Comprehensive Review, 1961-1991 (translated from German into American English by Roberta B. Jacobson and Alf B. Meier), Symposium publications IJT Electronic Books 1998

External links

• Rite of Passage Review of Rite of Passage- Tales of Backpacking 'round Europe, Emma Rodgers, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
• GlobeandMail.com Review of Rite of Passage by Victor Dwyer