Admittedly obsessed with the inner workings of the entertainment industry, author Karen Swenson left the security of home and hearth in Minnesota to pursue a career in Los Angeles--and hasn't looked back since. Her Hollywood-style graduate course included stints at local studios, record companies, public relations and talent agencies. In 1991, she served as project coordinator on Barbra Streisand's multi-media collection, Just for the Record...
Prior to this association, Ms. Swenson wrote Barbra: The Second Decade (Citadel Press, 1986), co-wrote Judy and Liza with James Spada (Doubleday, 1983), and provided research assistance on several other projects including Streisand: The Woman and the Legend (James Spada, Doubleday, 1981), Preston Sturges: Between Flops (James Curtis, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982), Brando: A Biography in Photographs (Christopher Nickens, Doubleday, 1987), and Rainbow's End: The Judy Garland Show (Coyne Steve Sanders, William Morrow, 1990).
She is currently working on a biography of Joan Crawford.