I Married a Munster!

What happens when a famous baggy-pants comic from Brooklyn collides with a classical actress and health nut from Berkeley? Karen Lewis’s memoir, I Married a Munster, is the hilarious, colorful love story of her marriage to America’s Icon, Al Lewis, “Grandpa” in the famously long-lived sitcom, THE MUNSTERS.

Part Romantic Comedy and part Drama, Karen provides a rollicking yet intimate look at this outwardly mismatched - she’s from Berkeley/he’s from Brooklyn - couple’s search for connection and honesty. The author provides juicy inside peeks into Al’s theatrical past, acting on stage, in film and television performances, and similarly, the fabulous evening they spent having dinner with Fred Gwynne and his wife, when Grandpa and Herman Munster dish the dirt on Mockingbird Lane. Rich in theater anecdotes and stories from Al’s life, it’s wrapped in Karen’s Aha! Moments as the scope of their life together widens.

Al Lewis, the hilarious actor and performer, star of the popular TV sitcom, The Munsters, was also a political force to be reckoned with. Recruited by the Green Party, Al ran for Governor of New York, protested against the Rockefeller Drug Laws, and hosted a public affairs program on WBAI-NY. The couple’s broadcast, Al Lewis Live! reached thousands of listeners every week for over 13 years. Karen’s book reveals the master performer, political activist, humanist, and coyote trickster that lived inside this popular figure. What starts out as a love story quickly evolves into a tale of transformation.

Karen Lewis literally married a Munster. For 26 years she was in love with Grandpa, the actor in the Dracula tux, who played in his basement laboratory. Even though Al Lewis entertained audiences for decades as a master actor, he was so much more.

Rich in theater anecdotes and stories from Al’s life, it’s wrapped in Karen’s Aha! Moments as the scope of their life together widens. Storytelling at its best, the deeper message is an urgent wake up call to use ones lifetime wisely and to engage humanity with empathy and compassion. Chapter Highlights: Al’s run for Governor; Karen’s debut on the Howard Stern Show; Debbie Harry at the Married to the Mob wrap party; Prisoner’s Rights Advocacy; Alternative Medicine; Radio hosting; Dinner with Fred Gwynne; Meeting Fidel Castro; Filming My Grandpa is a Vampire in New Zealand; Tenants’ Rights; Race Awareness with Dick Gregory; and more. Important themes emerge such as Politics, theater, acting, sociology, psychology, popular philosophy, medicine, education, feminism, sports, music, and ultimately, love.

This book, I Married a Munster! is about love – its many facets. Love of truth and love of life’s most precious resource: people.

KAREN LEWIS, Author/Actor/Teacher graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Dramatic Art. She later performed at the Boulder Shakespeare Festival, the American Conservatory Theater, the Magic Theater, California Actors Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, and PlayMakers Repertory among others. She was a founding member of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where she acted in over 50 plays.

In 1979, Karen performed in a North Carolina dinner theater production of California Suite with Al Lewis and her life was never the same!

In 1981, she attained a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do Karate. Returning to New York in 1986, she and Al married. After receiving an MA at Hunter College, she taught play writing for five years at the Roosevelt Island Cultural Center. In 1987, Karen teamed up with Gloria W. Milliken to create Eviction Intervention Services, a not-for-profit homelessness prevention agency, and was named executive director in 1997.Yoga, alternative health practices, and Belly Dancing are still among her favorite hobbies.

Al and Karen hosted a public affairs radio talk show at WBAI-NY called Al Lewis Live! that Karen inherited when he became too ill to continue. She was married to Al “Grandpa Munster” Lewis for over 20 years until his passing in 2006.

Karen now resides on the West Coast with her partner, Ernie Fosselius, who edited and created the cover art for I Married a Munster.