A native Georgian, Karen Dove Barr earned a B.A. from Mercer University and a J.D. from John Marshall Law School. Following a seven-year stint as a child protective services caseworker, she practiced law in Savannah for forty-eight years. Karen recently completed a second historical novel, entitled Night’s a Shadow, Day’s a Shine, featuring a Geechee/Gullah mother and daughter on Skidaway Island from1856 through1868. The heroines survive the island’s momentous events following the Civil War, including the experiment known as “40 acres and a Mule.” Their secret of survival-the ancient art of rooting, also known as witchcraft.

Because of her extensive research of General Sherman’s Field Order #15, Karen is quoted on National Public Radio’s 2025 Pulitzer Prize finalist podcast of “40 Acres and a Lie, Part 2” by Reveal. Burnt Pot Island, published November 2021 by Resource Publications, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers, is her debut novel. Her essays have appeared in Runners’ World, Fitness Magazine, Dog Fancy, Coastal Senior, Savannah Magazine, and numerous local publications. She was a long-time columnist for The Tybee News and This Week at the Landings (TWATL). She and her husband, Dr. Douglass Thomson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Literature, Georgia Southern University make their home on Skidaway Island