Karrie Gavin comes from a long line of Philadelphians that began with her great-grandparents, who immigrated to Philadelphia from County Mayo, Ireland, over a century ago. Born and raised in Germantown and Mt. Airy, Karrie now lives in Center City. In addition to writing about Philadelphia, she uses her extensive local knowledge to help people buy and sell homes as a real estate agent for Elfant Wissahickon Realtors.
Karrie earned a bachelor’s degree in English at Penn State University and a master’s degree in journalism at Temple University, where she also taught public speaking. Her interest in writing about Philadelphia was sparked during her time as editor of Campus Philly, a local nonprofit where she was responsible for creating online and print guides and a magazine for local college students.
Karrie is the former Philadelphia/South Jersey Guide for the website About.com, and her writing has appeared in numerous regional and national magazines, including Philadelphia magazine, Philadelphia Wedding, Philadelphia Home, AAA World, and US Airways magazine, and in the anthology PS: What I Didn’t Say, published by Seal Press.
In her spare time, she assists adults with special needs on vacations and local outings through Special Vacations, an organization founded by her mother. She also spends her time hanging out with her husband, her two sons, their dog, and her large network of family and friends. Lucky for her, they are almost all in Philly, because while Philadelphians may leave for a while, they almost always come back.
