Jacqueline (Jackie) Jackson was born on May 3, 1928 in Beloit, WI to Ronald Arthur Dougan and Vera (Wardner) Dougan. She married Robert S. Jackson on June 17, 1950; they divorced in 1973.

Jackson graduated from Beloit College in 1950 with a Bachelor’s degree in Classics and received her Master’s in Latin from the University of Michigan in 1951. She received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from MacMurray College in 1976 and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Beloit College in 1977.

Jackson taught children’s literature at Kent State University from 1964 to 1968 and worked as a consultant in creative writing at the Teacher Development Center in Rockford, Il from 1968 to 1970. In 1970 she joined Sangamon State University as one of its founding faculty members as an associate professor (later professor) of literature, and became a professor emerita in 1983.

While in Rockford, Jackson joined the staff at the University of Wisconsin WHA School of the Air on the radio show ‘The Author is You’. The show was broadcast to local schools while Jackson spoke about a different topic each week, after which students would write in to the show on the topic; approximately one show a month was dedicated to reading the student’s papers on the air. After commuting to Wisconsin for the show from 1970 to 1975, Jackson began her new program Reading, Writing, and Radio at Sangamon State University, which she continued to host until 1995.

Jackson has published twelve books over her career, as well as short stories, poetry, and scholarly articles.