Karen is the daughter of Rudolf Baum, a Ritchie Boy who trained at Camp Ritchie in the cold winter of 1943-1944. Rudolf was a Holocaust survivor whose thwarted 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 long shadow of the Holocaust that took the lives of her grandparents and irrevocably altered her father’s life and her own.  Based on archival documents, correspondence and photos, the book is about relationships, forgiveness, and the perseverance to learn more about a loved one’s story.

The Last Letter was an ABC Good Morning America Pick of the Week, was nominated for the American Library Association’s Sophie Brody Medal for outstanding achievement in Jewish literature, and went into its second printing before its first anniversary.  It is the #1 e-book seller for the University of Tennessee Press and remains one of its top sellers. Furthermore, the book appeared at the 2023 London Book Fair.  In addition to her numerous speaking engagements, Karen has been interviewed on WNYC and WGBH.

The book The Last Letter,  is available at the Curious Iguana bookstore in Frederick, as well as numerous online sources, and will be for sale at the event. Karen will sign books after she speaks.