Karin Klein somehow survived in newspaper journalism for 48 years, with most of that time spent at the Los Angeles Times, where she was an editorial writer before abruptly quitting along with most of the editorial board over the owner’s weird behavior. She’s also written for TIME, YES!, Vice, Atlas Obscura, CalMatters, The Optimist, and the Sacramento Bee, and is the author of two wildly different books: 50 Hikes in Orange County (Countryman Press, 2010 and 2016) and Rethinking College: A Guide to Thriving Without a Degree (HarperCollins, 2024). A certified naturalist, Karin leads hikes on the uses of wild plants and can nerdily explain the history of cochineal. She recently went back to college to indulge her lifelong fascination with archaeology. Her favorite travels have been to the fjords of Greenland and the prehistoric cave paintings of Perigord, France. Her favorite hobby is cooking world foods, which means she can’t find enough shelf space for her collection of spices and herbs. Her three kids have grown and flown into interesting lives while she continues living in Laguna Beach, CA, with her partner, film editor Rick Shaine, one little dog, one very big dog, and her 17-year-old cat Tim, who has calmly trained untold numbers of dogs in respectful behavior toward felines. Follow Karin on social media here: Facebook, LinkedIn, and X.