Vincent Jackson, a veteran journalist, devoted son, uncle and friend, died suddenly in his home in Palm Coast, Fla., on April 13. He was 63.

Jackson grew up in the Cambria Heights neighborhood of Queens with his parents, Ralph and Verna, and his brother, Wilfreed. He attended New York High School of Printing in Manhattan, a two-train trip and several-block walk from home. He then attended Long Island University, where he studied journalism and broadcast and served as music director of the campus radio station. He graduated in 1984.

His first journalism job was at the Saratogian in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. He was then hired by the Times Union in Albany, N.Y., in 1988, where he covered several municipal beats, including Colonie, Troy, Cohoes, Watervliet and Waterford. He also wrote on entertainment and features, which became his predominant beat when he went to The Press of Atlantic City in 1995.

During his 30-year tenure at The Press, Jackson wrote on all things features: music, movies and arts trends in the greater Atlantic City area. He interviewed and covered entertainers who passed through Atlantic City and performed at the many casinos and nightclubs there, including Barbra Streisand, Dionne Warwick, Lionel Ritchie and many more. In 2011, Jackson drove to Pennsylvania to interview a 14-year-old Taylor Swift in her parents’ home, where she spoke with him on her dreams of becoming a star.

Jackson moved to the news beat during his final five years at The Press. The paper, facing the fiscal troubles of many regional media outlets, laid him off in the fall of 2025.

Jackson's love of music covered a wide array of genres from country to funk and metal bands, but he held Prince particularly close to his heart, seeing the pop/funk/rock star every chance he got. According to The Press, Jackson donated four boxes of Prince memorabilia to the African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey in 2023. He regularly went to live shows until the end of his life, often driving hours to catch performances. He particularly loved outdoor music festivals, where he could soak up music for hours and perhaps catch an unknown star in the making. He attended the then-Freihofer’s Jazz Festival in Saratoga Springs 17 years straight, even after moving to New Jersey.

He enjoyed most sports but had a particular soft spot for NBA basketball, particularly the behind-the-scenes drama among the superstars. He also thought that attending the U.S. Open in New York City was the pinnacle of live sporting experiences and attended whenever he could.

Jackson’s love and knowledge of movies were legion. He made it a habit to see several films a week, rarely waiting until they made the quick transition to home streaming, preferring the big screen of theaters. For the past three years, he served on the board of Cinematique of Daytona in Daytona Beach, Fla., a nonprofit theater that specializes in independent films. He also returned to the Albany area each year for an Oscar-broadcast gathering with friends.

Jackson was a loyal friend who was also a great listener. The consideration with which he would remember to inquire about people and the events in their lives revealed how much he cared. He did not have children and he never married, but he understood both marriage and children, and his insights and advice to his friends and coworkers were intuitive and valuable. He had an astute sense of human nature, closely following the follies of national and world events with a sense of humor and disbelief, but always with underlying optimism.

Many journalists dislike the gathering of facts but enjoy the writing aspects of their craft. Jackson was the opposite; he would say that reporting was easy. That may have been, in part, because he simply liked people and enjoyed speaking with them. And it’s not hard to think that those who were interviewed by him felt treated like interesting individuals instead of subjects of a news piece, a means to an end.

Jackson was called to Florida several years ago by his aging parents, who wanted their son’s care at the end of their lives, and he dutifully filled that role. When his brother died, Jackson served as father figure to his brother’s only son, Andrew. Jackson had just put his parents’ home on the market in the hopes of moving to northern Delaware at the end of May.

He is predeceased by his parents and his brother. He is survived by his nephew. Jackson will be interred with his parents and brother in the family plot in Florida.

Donations in his memory can be made to the African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey (aahmsnj.org) or to Cinematique of Daytona (cinematique.org)

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