Fowler is the daughter of Lillian (née Schuman) and Sol Goldman. She has three siblings: Allan H. Goldman, Diane Goldman Kemper, and Jane Goldman. Her Father was the largest non-institutional real estate investor in New York City in the 1980s, owning a portfolio of nearly 1900 commercial and residential properties. Her siblings, Allan Goldman and Jane Goldman manage the remaining real estate assets via the firm Solil Management. Her cousin, Lloyd Goldman, is also a notable real-estate investor in New York City.

Goldman earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Ph. D.) at Oklahoma State University in 1984. She also holds a Master of Arts in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University's Teachers College (1978) and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Barnard College (1976).

She is one of the four adult children of Sol Goldman (d. 1987), once New York City's wealthiest private landlord with an estimated net worth of $1 billion in 1984, and Lillian Goldman (d. 2002).

Melons for the Passionate Grower (Artisan, 2002) was nominated for several other awards including: The Garden Writers Association of America 2003 Garden Globe Award of Achievement, various Bookbinder's Awards for design and production, a James Beard Foundation Award (Reference Books category) and the International Association of Culinary Professionals award for Best Design.

The Compleat Squash: A Passionate Grower's Guide To Pumpkins, Squashes and Gourds (Artisan, 2004) was chosen as a 2005 American Horticultural Society Book Award winner. This book also won a bronze award of achievement from The Garden Writers Association of America.

The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table – Recipes, Portraits and History of the World's Most Beautiful Fruit was published by Bloomsbury in 2008. It was selected as a recipient of the American Horticultural Society's 2009 Book Award.

In September 2014, Amy was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Center for Jewish History – a position she held until December 2016. The Center for Jewish History is one of the foremost Jewish research and cultural institutions in the world, having served over 1 million people in more than 100 countries.

Heirloom Harvest: Modern Daguerreotypes of Historic Garden Treasures (Bloomsbury, 2015) is illustrated by daguerreotypist Jerry Spagnoli. The book features over 175 photographs of fruits, vegetables, nuts, herbs, and berries grown by Goldman on her 200-acre Hudson Valley farmstead. Goldman's essay, "Fruits of the Earth," describes her 25-year collaboration with the land. Heirloom Harvest has been featured in The Washington Post, Elle Décor, Harper's Bazaar, The Financial Times, The Daily Beast, The East Hampton Star, and Town and Country. In August 2016 it won the Association for Garden Communicators (GWA)’s Silver Medal in the Book Category. It also won two distinctions at the October 2016 New York Book Show (Book Industry Guild of New York): Best in Special Trade (Art Books) and Best in Special Trade/Photography.