Ken Herman, a Brooklyn native still trying to figure out how he became a longtime Texas journalist, currently serves as the Austin American-Statesman’s metro columnist, which means he writes about whatever he wants to write about and hopes his bosses want to read it.

Herman began his newspaper career in 1975 at The Lufkin Daily News, a small-town daily in East Texas where he received the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for public service. In 1977, he joined The Associated Press in Dallas and subsequently worked for The AP in Harlingen, Texas (on the Mexican border) and Austin.

In 1988, he was named Austin Bureau Chief for The Houston Post, leading that paper’s coverage of state government and politics.

When the Post folded in 1995 (not completely his fault), Herman became State Capitol Bureau Chief for the Austin American-Statesman. In 2001, after covering George W. Bush’s presidential campaign, Herman went to Washington for a six-month stint as Cox Newspapers White House Correspondent.

He returned to the American-Statesman (a Cox newspaper) in June 2001 to resume covering state government and politics. In June 2004, Herman returned to Washington to cover the Bush re-election campaign and later resumed his role as Cox Newspapers White House Correspondent from January 2005 through February 2009, when he again returned to the Austin newspaper.

During his Washington stint, Herman was elected to the board of the White House Correspondents Association.

Herman is married to journalist Sharon Jayson, a former USA Today staffer who now does freelance work from Austin. Their daughter Tracey, former assistant to the costume director for the New York City Ballet, now works for Circus Center in San Francisco, a nonprofit that trains circus performers. Their son Jeremy is in real estate finance in Atlanta.