Brown Bear Products is a family business first set up in 1998 to show and sell art by Erik David Behnke. His mother, Linda Kay Thompson, is also a writer and artist but worked on her art part time while she was a full time intensive needs high school teacher. She retired in 2012 and is now free to work full time on her art interests, one of which is writing. They both enjoy living on the coast of beautiful Kachemak Bay in Homer, Alaska. Erik has had art shows across the United States in Washington DC, Manhattan, Boston, Kansas City, Spokane, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Phoenix and many others. You can learn more about Erik’s career in the About Erik section of this website. Linda started her writing career developing historical reports for publication as a federal and state researcher. As a single mother, she wrote for enjoyment for years and has published two non-fiction books: Erik’s Story, finding his gifts against all odds in rural Alaska, and It’s Okay Mom, an Alaska story of trust, love of family and triumph over adversity. She has a new book for 2014 called, Let Us Be Brave, An Alaska Story of Special Olympians Uniting to Survive.