Walter Karp

(1934 - 1989)

After studying anthropology at Columbia University, Walter Karp began his career as a popular-science writer before switching to politics during the civil rights movement. “When the whole country became political, I became political,” he told his daughter in a 1989 interview, published shortly after his death at the age of fifty-five. “You don’t think about politics until something goes wrong. Unfortunately, political thought begins with disaster.” The author of eight books, Karp also wrote for magazines, including Harper’s Magazine, American Heritage, and Horizon.