Karen Lynne Hall (born June 2, 1956) is an Americantelevision writer,producer,author,bookstore owner and a member oftheGeorge Foster Peabody Awards[1] board of jurors, best known for her work on thetelevision seriesJudging Amy andM*A*S*H.
Hall was born inChatham, Virginia to Ervis Hall and Flo Hall. Hall's younger sister,Barbara Hall, is also a television writer and producer. In 1974, Hall graduated from Chatham High School.
In 1978, Hall graduated with aB.A. degree inEnglish fromCollege of William and Mary. Then she was awarded a fellowship from theVirginia Museum of Fine Arts to theUniversity of Virginia, where she was in graduate school in theM.F.A. Playwriting Program.[2]
While at William and Mary, Hall took a three-week trip to Hollywood with students from theUniversity of Richmond. There she attended writing seminars hosted byEarl Hamner andAlan Alda. Impressed by her talent, both Hamner and Alda kept in touch with her after she returned to Virginia. With their encouragement, she decided to move to California after graduating from the University of Virginia in 1979.
Hall started her television writing career as astory editor ofEight Is Enough and writing scripts forM*A*S*H. In her career as writer, producer and creative consultant, Hall has worked on numerous series includingHill Street Blues,Moonlighting,Roseanne andGrace Under Fire.[3] Shows for which she wrote individual episodes includeNorthern Exposure,I'll Fly Away,Judging Amy andThe Good Wife.
Among other recognitions, Hall has received theHumanitas Prize, the Women in Film Luminas Award and theWriters Guild of America Award. She has received seven Emmy Award Nominations. In 1984, she was listed byEsquire Magazine in its first annual register, "The Best of the New Generation: Men and Women under 40 Who Are Changing America".[4]
Hall is also the author of the novelDark Debts, a supernatural thriller combining horror,Southern Gothic, humor, romance and theological mystery.Dark Debts was published by Random House in 1996 and was aBook of the Month Club main selection. It has been translated into French, German and Japanese. The novel was re-published by Simon & Schuster in 2016, after Hall made significant changes to it.
Hall has spent the last decade as an adjunct college professor. She has taught undergraduates at Appalachian State University and MFA screenwriting students at The University of Georgia and at Regent University, where she teaches at present."[4]
Hall is married to her high school sweetheart, Chris Walker. They live in Orlando, Florida. They have four adult children.
