Kim Christensen Clark wrote Crimson Throne during the pandemic, four years before her untimely passing in January, 2024 after a long battle with Appendix Cancer. Her creativity knew no bounds. She had been kicking around the idea for the book for years, attempting it as a labor of love when the world went into lockdown.
Born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and raised in Beverly, Mass., and Tucson, Arizona, she was married to Benjamin Clark and mother to two amazing women, Charlotte and Anna.
Kim was an extraordinary scholar, graduating early from high school and college. She earned a bachelor's degree in Russian language from the University of Arizona summa cum laude and a JD from Harvard Law School cum laude. She also studied at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership at the University of Cambridge.
Two fundamental forces influenced her career. The first was the pursuit of excellence in legal advocacy. This force motivated her to intern and work at some of the nation's premier law firms including Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, and Steptoe & Johnson.
The second, and her true passion, however, was social justice. As Senior Counsel and then Legal Director at Legal Voice, Kim was remarkable; an acknowledged national leader--in analysis and action--on the effort to fight crisis pregnancy centers, protect healthcare data privacy and abortion access. She was a wonderful teacher and mentor, interpreting the law and cases with clarity and precision, educating Legal Voice's staff, board, supporters, and the greater Pacific Northwest communities. She came up with innovative theories and worked with the Washington Attorney General to shape a statewide strategy to fight these deceptive practices that targeted pregnant women when they were most vulnerable. Kim developed litigation and legislative blueprints to push back against the rollback of abortion rights. Kim was recognized at state and national levels as a premier expert in health rights, developing theories to expand abortion rights and reproductive justice--the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Ford Foundation and others consistently invited Kim to participate in strategy development.
Kim was not only remarkable in strategy, she was a brilliant and tenacious litigator. Kim led Legal Voice's team to important wins and impactful settlements in Idaho, Washington, and Alaska. When the Dobbs decision was published, Kim was inundated with questions and requests for advocacy from around the country. She was also honored to serve as a Wasserstein Fellow at Harvard Law School, speaking to eager students at her alma mater. She took each request seriously and followed up every question she received, addressing concerns about bodily autonomy and reproductive rights at every level.
Kim consistently applied an intersectional approach to her litigation and advocacy, focusing on both race and gender equity. She brought her outstanding legal, teaching, writing, and public speaking skills to courtrooms, editorial pages, podcasts, conferences, lecture halls, and board meetings. With Kim's leadership and litigation skills, Legal Voice has been able to ensure that the living wills of pregnant persons are honored; has prevented harassment of patients and providers at Planned Parenthood in Spokane, Washington; and has secured a ruling permitting advanced practice clinicians to provide medication abortion. Kim's legacy, built on her passion for social justice, equity and access, will continue to shape Legal Voice's reproductive justice work for years to come.
She also was a member of the Board of Directors of the Mona Foundation, a Seattle-based foundation that supports grassroots girls' education initiatives around the world. She traveled to The Gambia, Haiti and India as part of her work with the foundation.
Kim Christensen Clark was a dynamic, adventurous, imaginative and passionate woman. She loved to travel and learn about other cultures, visiting Russia both before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and later building extensive itineraries for her family's numerous road trips and overseas journeys.
Kim is eternally missed. Crimson Throne provides a little window into her soul, keeping readers guessing throughout the adventures of Dara Vance and her fellow castaways. We hope you'll enjoy it!
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