Kathleen Karr

Kathleen Karr (née Csere; April 21, 1946 – December 6, 2017) was an American author of historical novels for children and young adults. She is the winner of the Golden Kite Award for her book, The Boxer.

Early life and education Karr was born April 21, 1946, in Allentown, Pennsylvania and grew up on a chicken farm in the Dorothy section of Weymouth Township, New Jersey She graduated from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 1968 and received a master's degree in English literature from Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island in 1971.

Career

Karr worked at the newly formed American Film Institute in Washington, D.C. in 1971. After a year there, she worked for the Circle Theatre chain until her daughter was born. She wrote her first novel, Light of My Heart, in 1984. After her young children asked her to write a story for them, she published her first children's book, It Ain't Always Easy (1990), and began a full-time career writing for children and young adults.

In her novel The Great Turkey Walk, she depicts the movement of poultry from county to county where poultry was walked from Missouri to Denver, in much the same way it was done for centuries.

She is the author of Gilbert and Sullivan Set Me Free about a women's prison. Based on a historical event in 1914, the inmates of Sherborn Women's Prison in Sherborn, Massachusetts put on a performance of The Pirates of Penzance. In her novel, the prison's chaplain uses the transformative power of music and theater in helping reform inmates and in bringing them together in spirited community.

Death Karr died December 6, 2017, in Chicago, Illinois.

Awards and reception

1986 - Romance Writers of America Golden Medallion, Inspirational Romance – From This Day Forward