Meg Downey spent most of her career as a journalist. A two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, Downey was executive editor of the Poughkeepsie Journal and managing editor of the Tennessean in Nashville. Downey has won more than 40 national journalism awards, including the Edward J. Meeman Award for Environmental Reporting. She has been an editor and contributing writer for 10 books, among them “The Hudson Valley, Our Heritage, Our Future” and “West Point, Legend on the Hudson.” In her career she has also been a magazine editor and a television news cohost and additionally served as chief marketing officer for the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York. She taught a journalism writing and ethics seminar at Vassar College for nine years. She is active as an environmentalist and serves as chair of the Hudson River Valley Greenway Communities Council and co-chair of the Maurice D. Hinchey Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area. She is also a member of the board of the Hudson River Foundation for scientific and environmental research and the Leadership Council for the Botanic Garden of Smith College, among other organizations. A graduate of Smith, Downey lives in Millerton, New York, with her husband, Edward, an attorney. They have two sons.