Herbert was an assistant editor of CoEvolution Quarterly, a precursor to the Whole Earth Review.
She coined the phrases, "Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
"[2] Her book The Rising Sun Neighborhood was serialized in the March 1981 Whole Earth Catalog.
Her book Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty was published in 2016 by New Village Press.
[3] An article in the December 1991 issue of Glamour about the history of the "random kindness" phrase described Herbert as "tall, blonde, and forty" and as living in Marin County, California.