Karen is the daughter of Rudolf Baum, a Holocaust survivor whose stymied efforts to save his parents had multigenerational effects. The Last Letter: A Father’s Struggle, a Daughter’s Quest, and the Long Shadow of the Holocaust focuses on the story of Karen’s father and the events that took the lives of her grandparents and irrevocably altered her father’s life and her own. It is based on archival documents, letters and photos. The Last Letter was nominated for the American Library Association’s Sophie Brody Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Jewish Literature, was an ABC Good Morning America Pick of the Week, and went into its second printing before its first anniversary.

Karen has been featured at many venues including the Museum of Jewish Heritage and Camp Ritchie Museum. She has been interviewed on WNYC and WGBH. Karen is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Business School. She is an active member of Brooklyn Heights Synagogue and served as president of the congregation.