From early memories of pine scent filling the house at Christmas, to fearlessly climbing any tree as a youngster, to adulthood when she turned a barren new yard into a lush tree-filled landscape, Karen Kluger’s love affair with nature has culminated in Lessons Under the Oak Tree.

For the past ten years she has served on the board of the statewide Willamette Writers where she chairs a program for students who love to write. The program gives Portland students a chance to develop their writing talents and to interact with professional writers each month.

The author has been a long time member/supporter of the Nature Conservancy, and more recently the Audubon Society, and other environmental organizations.

For many years she lived in Thousand Oaks, California, named for the areas majestic oak trees. Near her new home in the Pacific Northwest, her constant companion is a big, smart, squirrel-chasing mutt she rescued from the SPCA in Oakland.  Her home sits beside a woods filled with towering maples, giant ferns and a bubbling brook where she walks for inspiration.

While writing at her computer, she’s been visited by a bald eagle, a pair of Cooper's hawks, deer, raccoons, friendly garden snakes, and lots of squirrels. When not tending her organic vegetable garden, she enjoys visits to family and friends in California.