88 years old (Born on July 29, 1936)
Happy Birthday, Karen! May your day be filled with more delightful surprises than a Bangkok landlady's guestbook and richer adventures than those captured in "A Sense of Direction." Your poetry has guided us east to west, always leaving readers both inspired and slightly envious of your passport stamps.Congratulations on another year as timelessly vibrant as the verses that earned you the National Poetry Series Award. Here's hoping this birthday brings laughter louder than critics' praise—and cake sweeter (and less complicated) than poetic metaphors. Keep writing brilliantly; after all these years, you're still our favorite literary compass pointing toward joy!