About the Authors
When Imagination Becomes a Heartwarming Tale
This is a first publication for both Nancy and Lola. Nancy O’Hara and Lola Garcia are an aunt and niece author duo who visited Pack Creek in 2016. To keep Lola occupied while watching the bears, they started to create a story about one of the cubs. Lola named her Maya and thus Maya the bear was born. When creating this first story about Maya, Lola was the inspiration for the small girl on the log with the flower.
Nancy Shaw O’Hara is a former engineering and manufacturing business owner from Naples, Florida. She has been married to her husband for 35 years and is the proud mother of two children and grandmother of one. With a love for family, adventure, and storytelling, Nancy found joy in transforming a real-life moment in nature into her first published book. Maya the Bear Makes a Friend is her debut as an author, created in a special collaboration with her niece, Lola.
Lola Garcia is a high school junior at Seacrest Country Day School in Naples, Florida. She is an artist, a volleyball player, and a creative storyteller. Maya the Bear Makes a Friend is Lola’s first publication, inspired by her 2016 visit to Pack Creek with her aunt, Nancy. During their bear-watching adventure, Lola imagined a curious cub she named Maya—sparking the story that became this book. The little girl on the log with the flower was inspired by Lola herself, making her artwork and imagination an important part of Maya’s world.