Predeceased by her father James Serling and her mother Renee Liebschutz, Joanne is survived by her husband of 25 years, Stephen Fisher, and their two children Max Fisher and Ben Fisher, her brother Craig E. Serling, and her sister Elizabeth Serling.
Joanne was born in Syracuse, New York and grew up in Rochester, New York where she attended Brighton High School. Getting good grades and having fun were the twin preoccupations of her high school years and many of the friends she made in Brighton and at nearby Camp Seneca Lake became her best friends for life. Joanne studied Human Development and Family Studies while an undergrad at Cornell but also had a deep and abiding passion for literature and hoped to someday write a novel of her own. After deciding not to pursue a masters in psychology, Joanne instead traveled to Spain for a year post graduation where she became a proficient Spanish speaker and English teacher. Upon her return, she settled in Manhattan with many of her college and high school friends and began a career as a writer and editor. Her early articles appeared in Bridal Guide, New Woman, and Woman’s Day and she wrote a regular column with Doctor Ruth Westheimer.
Disappointed with the low salary and few opportunities for advancement, Joanne eventually switched from publishing to public relations, working for various tech companies during the mid-90s tech boom and eventually joining American Express as Director of Public Affairs. After the birth of her second son, and with the encouragement of her husband Stephen, Joanne eventually left American Express to pursue her dream of becoming a fiction writer, attending writing workshops and craft classes at The Writers Studio in the West Village of New York. Nearly eight years later, she published her first novel, Good Neighbors. She was hard at work on a second novel when she passed.
Joanne worked hard to build a literary community of writers both among the students she met at the Writers Studio and in her home in Maplewood South Orange. She belonged to several writing groups, both fiction and nonfiction, and was valued for her sharp critical thinking, insight, and generosity as a reader. She often said these relationships were as an important part of her writing career as getting published. In recent years, Joanne also helped to develop and run a pro-bono college essay program at her local high school. Grateful for the scholarships that enabled her to attend Cornell, Joanne was passionate about helping students reach their highest potential through access to higher education; she consistently said it was the best job she ever had.
Through it all, Joanne was a dedicated and involved mother who loved her boys deeply. She liked nothing more than to organize ping pong tournaments, monopoly and card games, and shuffleboard tournaments on their annual Florida vacation. During their high school years, the boys always knew where to find mom—in the bleachers at a basketball or robotics tournament or in the car driving to far off locations to pursue these activities. In later years, she was often found in the kitchen making delicious dinners or whipping up her famous apple crumble.
Eating well, travelling and enjoying one another’s company was central to Joanne’s idea of family life. She was often the family’s travel agent, soliciting ideas and then organizing complex itineraries that incorporated the family’s divergent interests. Favorite vacations included skiing in Whistler, racing go-karts in the Arizona desert, exploring Seattle via Segway, and a family reunion to Costa Brava, Spain.
When Max and Ben left for college, Joanne could often be found on the back of Stephen’s motorcycle exploring the many wonders of the American landscape, including Joshua Tree and Northern California, Texas Hill Country and a “cross country” trip that morphed into a three-week jaunt through the Southeastern US and across the Florida panhandle.
At home, Joanne was happiest with Stephen hanging out on their boat at Lake Hopatcong —either solo or with friends. She loved to entertain in her backyard and enjoyed walking in the woods that backed up to her neighborhood. Known for her endless book recommendations, Joanne was an avid reader and never went anywhere without her Kindle.
In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to Clearity Foundation, an organization that helps women with ovarian cancer evaluate cutting-edge, treatment opportunities, including nationwide trials https://www.clearityfoundation.org/donate/ or The Columbia High School Scholarship Fund, which provides access to higher education for students who attend Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey https://chssf.org/
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