Kathryn Kahn writes stories about Oakland, California, where she has lived for many years. Her Sheltered pandemic trilogy tells the story of a diverse group of neighbors during a time of global crisis. Rachel and Carlos, who become a couple at the beginning of the pandemic, find that a quiet neighborhood is no protection against global problems, as they and the people around them cope with Covid-19, national political crises, the effects of climate change, homelessness, racial justice, and everything that defined 2020 for the country.
Sheltered: A Pandemic Love Story (2020) was followed by Grounded: A Community Story (2021), and the two books take the characters to the end of 2020. The third novella, Inspired: A Renewal Story, carries the characters through the end of 2021 and finds a kind of resolution for the neighborhood’s stories.
Kathryn began writing fiction after her retirement following a multifaceted career that spanned a number of industries and organizations. Most recently, she taught writing at San Jose State University, where she wrote a textbook, Writing Without A Net: College and Professional Writing for Performing and Media Arts Majors. At the same time, she was publicist, photographer, marketing writer, and graphic designer/webmaster for Oakland’s Woodminster Summer Musicals, a 55-year-old organization that presented Broadway-style musicals to over 20,000 audience members each summer. She had a long corporate career, including a stint in a prominent public relations agency as well as almost two decades working as a marketing communications manager for high tech companies.
Serving as a parent volunteer in Oakland Public Schools inspired her to leave the technology industry and use her marketing skills to promote arts and education-related causes in Oakland. Kathy and her husband, David Kahn, were co-chairs of the Skyline High PTSA Performing Arts Committee for six years, during which time their group managed the renovation of the Skyline High School theater with the support of alumnus Tom Hanks and several hundred other contributors.
Kathy Kahn was a member of the Steering Committee for the Alameda County Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership, a member of the Oakland Schools Arts Task Force, winner of the OUSD Vibrant Arts Award for community support, and the recipient of three Academy mentor awards from the Oakland Unified School District. She worked as Arts Active Parent Coordinator for the Alameda County Office of Education, where she built a large community of parents interested in arts education and produced a monthly newsletter for them, hosted events and public discussions, and worked with parents in individual schools to encourage the growth of arts education programs in the county. She was also a member of the Board of Directors for Oakland Parents Together, a nonprofit organization that educates and empowers parents to advocate for their children in Oakland public schools. In 2013, she was awarded that organization's Valerie Denise Alexander Superparent Award for her work with parents and parent groups.
Kathryn’s love for Oakland has led to many of her most interesting experiences and relationships. While the characters in her books are fictional, they share qualities of kindness and decency she has so often seen in ordinary Oaklanders. She is delighted to now be writing stories that emphasize the honorable side of humanity during a cynical and angry time, especially with this vigorous and multidimensional city as a backdrop.
