Her father Charles and mother Augusta Hendrick were immigrants from Eastern Europe.
[1][2] She represented the American Civil Liberties Union and conscientious objectors to the Vietnam War.
[2] Karpatkin saw both product testing and advocacy as linked issues, leading to a dispute with Nader who left the board over it.
[2] Karpatkin was a central figure in the consumer rights movement of the 1970s, along with Ralph Nader and Joan Claybrook.
[2] In 2000, the year before she retired, the magazine had 4.3 million subscribers and at the time the largest paid-subscriber website with 350,000 users.