Karen Wynn Fonstad, née Wynn (April 18, 1945 - March 11, 2005) was the author of several atlases of fictional worlds.

Born Karen Lea Wynn in Oklahoma City 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 on March 21, 1970 and produced two children: Dr. Mark A. Fonstad and Kristina Stingle.

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.

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

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