Originally from Monroe, Louisiana, Jana spent her youth horseback riding in the woods, skiing on the bayou and generally raisin’ hell. She graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where she studied English and Public Relations, and then moved to New York City to study acting.
She stayed in NYC for nine years, during which time she helped found a theatre company (Seraphim), managed the Greenwich Street Theatre, wrote a screenplay (The Ambassador of 20th Street), held various temp jobs (including horse and buggy driver and bike messenger) and acted when she could.
She moved to Austin, where she had great opportunities as an actress in theatre, film, and commercials and worked with the Austin Film Festival. She also helped run the Texas River School, taking elementary school children from at-risk communities on full-day canoe trips on Lady Bird Lake in the heart of downtown.
After Jana moved to Westchester with her husband and children, she was quickly recognized for her energy, hard work and love of the outdoors. She was appointed by the mayor’s office to a Deer Management Committee and a Flood Mitigation Committee and was approached to run for City Council. She helped create the Rye Nature Center’s “Paddle Adventure Camp,” leading young teenagers on hiking and kayaking expeditions around the region, and wrote a bi-monthly column about her excursions, “The Great Outdoors,” for the Rye Record. Jana’s greatest service was as a board member and president of the Friends of Read Wildlife Sanctuary, a Westchester County Park in Rye. She received The Osborn Foundation Foundress Award, recognizing her as an “…exemplary individual who has dedicated herself to making Rye and Westchester County a better place to live and work.”
She is currently working on a guidebook about local adventures entitled “My Suburban Escapes – The Wanderings of One Westchester Wife.” She lives in Rye with her husband Andy, with whom she has two children, Joe (23) and Kate (20).