Terry Jackson was a prominent automotive journalist with many years of experience 20 years experience at different newspapers and magazines including the Sacramento Bee , the Miami Herald and several national automotive magazines. He also wrote a weekly automotive column, "Hot Wheels," and was a founding member of the Southern Automotive Media Association (SAMA) . He owned and raced numerous cars, including a TR3, a Griffith, and various Mustangs and Corvettes. In 1987, he won the national feature award from the Automotive Journalists Association for a story about vintage racing.

Terry Jackson died of esophageal cancer in 2009 at the age of 57. He was an editor at the Miami Herald and living with his wife Marjorie in Florida at the time of his death. The Southern Automotive Media Association (SAMA) created the Terry Jackson Memorial Award in his honor, given annually for outstanding contributions to SAMA and the automotive community.