Karen Lea Wynn Fonstad (April 18, 1945 – March 11, 2005) was an American cartographer and academic who designed several atlases of fictional worlds, including her 1981 The Atlas of Middle-earth about J. R. R. Tolkien's creations.

Early life and education

Born Karen Lea Wynn in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to parents James and Estis Wynn, she graduated from Norman High School in Norman, Oklahoma, and then earned a B.S. degree in Physical Therapy and an M.A. in Geography, specializing in cartography, from the University of Oklahoma. While attending the University of Oklahoma she met Todd A. Fonstad. They married in 1970, and had two children.

Career

Before her "retirement" to raising children and writing companion atlases, Fonstad was Director of Cartographic Services at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. Her formal acknowledgments for The Atlas of Pern (1984) include "my husband, Todd, associate professor geography" and the UW Oshkosh Department of Geography. She served on the Oshkosh City Planning Commission for twenty-four years and was a member of the Oshkosh Common Council. Other interests and activities included the Grand Opera House Board of Directors, Hotel/Convention Center and Mass Transportation Center Development Committees, Oshkosh Commercial Development Corporation, Business Improvement Council Board of Directors, Downtown Oshkosh Committee, the Oshkosh Symphony League, the Camp Fire and Cub Scout programs, and the UW-Oshkosh Faculty Dames, where she held the offices of president and secretary.

Death

Karen Wynn Fonstad died, aged 59, from complications of breast cancer.

Works

Fonstad's speciality was the creation of fictional atlases: