About

Karen Fults Kaler is the author of the manuscript Stolen Children, a work of literary historical fiction. The book interweaves the stories of two girls—one English, one African—who personalize the transformation from exploitation to institution, from indentured servitude to chattel slavery.

Eastcliff: History of a Home (University of Minnesota Press) was published in 2023. It won the 2024 David Gebhard award for best book from the Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians.

Karen co-authored a 141-page paper titled “The Lives of Presidential Partners in Higher Education Institutions,” and the article “Evolving Roles for Presidential Spouses and Partners” for Trusteeship magazine.

History with a Southern Accent, Karen’s book project across generations of families spanning nearly three centuries, begins with Stolen Children. The second volume, Stolen Lives, is also complete. The third volume will be set during Bacon’s Rebellion, and the fourth during the American Revolution.

Karen was born in Nashville, Tennessee. She received a BFA and did graduate study in studio art. She had a thirty-year career in communication design before she focused on writing. She lived in Eastcliff from 2011 to 2019, while her husband, Dr. Eric W. Kaler, was president of the University of Minnesota. They and their dog, Lulu, live in the official residence of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where Eric is the president. They are parents to two sons and grandparents to three adored grandchildren.