Karen Fisher Alaniz

Karen Fisher-Alaniz, author of Breaking the Code, is a former special education teacher. When her father began experiencing nightmares and flashbacks at the age of 81, more than 50 years after the war, she set out on a journey. Asking questions and reading more than 400 pages of letters he’d kept hidden, she began discovering a father she’d never known. Murray Fisher, who’d told her that he’d simply sat behind a desk during the war, was in fact involved in Naval Intelligence. In a riveting turn of events, she not only discovered his secret past, but also helped him find a pathway to healing.

Her father, now 92, often joins her at book signings and author events. Shortly after the book was published, Karen and her father were interviewed by Audie Cornish on NPR’s, Weekend Edition.

Ms. Fisher-Alaniz holds a master’s degree in education. She is a frequent speaker on the topic of memoir writing, as well as military veteran issues. Now a full time writer, she is working on a nonfiction book about Seattle, Washington portrait artist, and Vietnam veteran, Michael G. Reagan. She teaches a college course in life story writing, and still enjoys Wednesdays with Murray each week.