Beverley East is a graphologist, a court-qualified forensic document examiner and author
Education
Though born in Kingston, Jamaica, East attended Westminster Kingsway College in London, graduating with A-levels in English Language, Literature and German and O-levels in British Economic and Social History, German, Italian, English Literature and Language, Sociology
East attended the College of Distributive Trades in London and earned a degree in The Communications Advertising and Marketing Dip (Marketing, Puerto Rico and Advertising).
She began studying graphology at the International Graphoanalysis Society and was certified in 1989. She earned her Master"s in Graphoanalysis from the International Graphoanalysis Society. In 1993 she became a Certified Questioned Document Examiner (QDE) for the National Bureau of Questioned Document Examiners in New York, New New York
Career
She works in her home city of Washington, District of Columbia, and in Jamaica. She authenticated handwriting on the labels of 1,700-item butterfly collection assembled by naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace for the then-owner of the collection, attorney Robert Haggestad, who purchased the collection for $600. Haggestad asked East to authenticate the handwriting, which she did.
The collection was later purchased by the Smithsonian for a substantial sum ($45 million).
East was the handwriting expert in the 2012 court case of the Jamaican Stone Crusher Gang, where police fabricated witness statements against members. Accused gang members were later released because of the evidence being false.
East has also been asked by the media to comment on the handwriting of news worthy events. In 1998, "The Reliable Source", a respected Washington Post column, asked her to review Monica Lewinsky’s handwriting.
East was also asked to comment on handwriting samples from the anthrax mailings case for a National Geographic Channel documentary.
In addition to being a graphologist, East is an author In June 2014, she was named by Ebony magazine as one of "six Caribbean writers you should take some time to discover" (alongside Mervyn Morris, Andrea Stuart, Ann-Margaret Lim, Roland Watson-Grant, and Tiphanie Yanique, who were attending the Calabash Literary Festival in Jamaica). her first book, Write: A New Slant on Selecting the Perfect Mate (2000), became a bestseller after it received major media coverage, including East being interviewed by Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America.