Passin’

Born and raised in Harlem, Karen Quinones Miller dropped out of school at age thirteen. When she was twenty-two, she joined the Navy and served for five years, after which she married, had a child, and got divorced. She moved to Philadelphia at age twenty-nine and began a career in the newspapers, first as a secretary at the Philadelphia News, then as a correspondent for a weekly African American paper, and, after graduating magna cum laude from Temple University with a B.A. in Journalism, as a reporter for the Virginian-Pilot and the Philadelphia Inquirer. She has also served as correspondent for People magazine.