Kathi Diamant

About Kathi

Born in New York City in 1952, Kathi moved to France at the age of three and grew up in postwar landscapes. She attended elementary school in Germany in the 1950s, attended high school in College Park, Georgia and Seoul, South Korea. Following two years at the University of Georgia, she earned a BA degree in Theatre from Florida State University. Kathi has worked her way through a variety of careers: author, actor, TV talk show host, freelance journalist, public speaker, tour director, tai chi teacher, writing instructor, university lecturer, and adjunct professor at San Diego State University.

Since 1998, Kathi has directed the SDSU Kafka Project, the official international search for lost writings of literary giant Franz Kafka, stolen by the Gestapo in Berlin in 1933. Her television career has spanned more than 50 years, and she continues to work for PBS as an on-air fundraising host on national and southern California pledge programs.

Kathi is married to Byron LaDue and lives very happily in a historic home near downtown San Diego with a large garden and two cats in the yard.

Coming Up...

Red Carpet Premiere
The Glory of Life, a new film about the last year of Franz Kafka’s life and its surprising love story will open in German theaters on March 14, 2024. Starring Henreitte Confurius as Dora Diamant and Sabin Tambrea as Kafka, The Glory of Life (Die Herrlichkeit des Lebens) will have a red carpet premiere at the famed Delphi Theatre in Berlin on March 6, 2024. The film is produced by Tempest Films, directed by Judith Kaufmann and Georg Maas, and written by Michael Gutmann, based on “The Glory of Life” by Michael Kumpfmüller. Watch the trailer.

Superbook 2024
Feb. 18 | 9am-5pm
Novel Network presents a literary alternative to the big football game, with an all day line up of bestselling authors.

Yiddishland Valentines’s Day
Feb. 14 | 6pm
Celebrate the love story of Dora Diamant and Franz Kafka at this entertaining talk at Yiddishland La Jolla.

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