Ben Mikaelsen

Mikaelsen was born in Bolivia to Christian missionary parents. As a child in Bolivia, Mikaelsen grew up speaking Spanish as his first language and experienced prejudice and discrimination for being one of the only white people in his village. He didn’t start school until age nine, when he was old enough to attend the boarding school where his siblings went. Having had no education until his first day of school, Mikaelsen was punished, often physically, by his teachers for poor performance. His parents moved the family to Minnesota in time for Mikaelsen to start seventh grade. In the United States, Mikaelsen was once again bullied. To cope, he wrote stories, worked to earn money so that he could take flying lessons, and taught himself to cliff dive. It wasn’t until college that a professor, intrigued by a writing assignment Mikaelsen turned in, connected Mikaelsen with a tutor so that he could learn basic spelling, grammar, and conventions. After moving to Montana and becoming involved with his local Fish and Game office, Mikaelsen adopted a declawed black bear cub that was going to be euthanized otherwise. Buffy the bear lived with Mikaelsen until his death in 2012; Buffy inspired Touching Spirit Bear. Though Touching Spirit Bear is Mikaelsen’s most famous work, he’s written a number of other novels for young readers. Mikaelsen also runs an anti-bullying project and speaks about bullying to schools. He lives with his wife in Anacortes, Washington.