Karen Rudolph is returning to her first love of writing after spending her professional career in both sports media and education. A small-town Northwest Missouri native and graduate of the University of Missouri, Karen also earned a Masters of Education—Sport Leadership degree from California Baptist University.

When the landmark legislation known as Title IX passed during the nineteen seventies, it opened up opportunities for generations of women in college sports, including Karen, who played on Missouri’s first women’s teams in basketball and softball and earned one of the initial women’s athletic scholarships.

After graduation, Karen wrote sports features and covered women’s, high school, college, and professional sports for the Columbia Daily Tribune. With an itch for travel and adventure, she relocated to Southern California and worked in sports media, contributing frequently to and serving as managing editor of Sports Spectrum Magazine. During that time, she authored the book Grace and Glory: Profiles of Faith and Courage in the Lives of Top Women Athletes. Later Karen served as a columnist and assistant editor for the Mountain News in Lake Arrowhead, California. Following a career change, Karen taught in Southern California high schools and coached varsity basketball and softball for 20 years.

Karen currently lives in Auburn, CA, with her partner Ruth and a darling happy-go-lucky Bernedoodle named Lucy who is a trained and certificated therapy dog. Karen has three children and seven grandchildren.