Children's author under fire over book about Grizzly 399 bear that was killed earlier this year

An Arkansas man is facing pushback over a children's book he penned about a beloved grizzly bear who died only a few weeks ago.

Matthew Thomas's Queen of the Tetons-The Legacy of 399 follows a fictionalized version of the most famous and photographed grizzly in the world, who was struck and killed by a car in late October.

Known only as #399, the 28-year-old female had lived in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park, commonly drawing crowds looking to catch a glimpse of her and her cubs over the years.

Her legacy lives on in the form of her bear brood, but Thomas - just days after her she passed - sought to honor her in a different sense.

Less than five days after the accident, on October 27, he took to Facebook to advertise his since-released tome - which is riddled with AI-generated images.

'My debut children’s book titled “Queen of the Tetons-The legacy of 399” Will be available for purchase on December 1st,' it read, linking to a separate Facebook page. 'Click on the page, and like and follow for more information.'

A little over two weeks after its release, the book is experiencing backlash - with some calling the rookie writer 'sick' for seeking to profit off something so tragic.

'I’m not trying to capitalize on the death of the bear or anything like that,' Thomas, in turn, told Cowboy State Daily, refusing to take the book out of circulation.

He said he wrote 'Queen Of The Tetons: The Legacy of 399' to teach kids about the value of listening to their parents - after the 28-year-old bear was fatally struck on October 22 while crossing a road in Snake River Canyon with one of her four cubs.

The unnamed driver afterward told park officials the bear appeared out of nowhere and that he could not veer out of the way, leaving her to her fate. 

'Through the strictness and through the harshness you’ll find out it was actually done out of love,' Thomas told the paper of the lesson the book is meant to impart.

'There’s some morals in there about growing up and having a firm mother, but if you listen to your parents and the good outcomes that will come from it,' he said.

Thomas added that the plot of the picture book - which has no human illustrator at all - centers around how 399 her earner her real-life nickname Queen of the Tetons, and the motherly care she gave to her collective 18 cubs over the decades.

Clocking in at 36 pages, the book itself is self-published, and according to the author, is an avenue for younger Americans to venture down when it comes to getting acquainted with the legend that is 399. 

'I’m not trying to make a living off this book. I want it to be in Wyoming schools,' Thomas told the publication, pointing to his own, occasional encounters with the now disjoined bear pack. 

'I want to see it in Wyoming libraries, I want to see it in Wyoming gift shops,' he continued. 'I want it to be a local book.'

Meanwhile, onlookers privy to Thomas's plans on the new author's Facebook plans expressed disbelief about the concept, with on writing in response to the author's October advertisement, 'Is this for real Matthew?'

The Arkansas resident who up until recently lived in a community located on the cusp of Yellowstone known as Cody assured her and others it was, and this month made good on his promise.

'She was strict, but she was a really good mom,' he said of his take on the bear's demeanor, immortalized in an array of media.

'She really did that because she really loved her kids, not because she was a jerk or anything like that,' he said, anthropomorphizing the animal.

He said he came to know this personally during his routine drives while working as a concessionaire at Grand Teton National Park, where he would sometimes see 399 and her cubs.

Thomas then revealed how he has since moved due to a medical condition, but recently felt the need to write a book about the animal and how it reminded him of his own mother and his upbringing with six brothers and sisters.  

After some painstaking research and a series interviews with wildlife photographers, he said he knew 399 had to be the book's focus.

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence are what made it possible he said - pointing to how he did not have to fork over hefty fees to cover the cost of an illustrator.

'They look almost now like a photograph more than an AI photo or an AI cartoon photo,' he said of the images, which range from cartoonish to strangely lifelike.

'I hope it [gets more amateur children’s book authors like himself to publish books] honestly, because never in a million years I would’ve thought of doing this, and now I can’t wait to write my third book.'

Still fresh from his first book's release, Thomas is already touting how he is already at work on his second book, this one about a moose, thanks, in part, to the accessibly brought by AI artwork. 

Speaking to Cowboy State Daily, he said he plans to release the book - tentatively titled Hoback The Mischievous Moose - in the coming weeks.

The paper, moreover, reported on some barbs the former park official has been faced with as a result - including one that slammed the amateur author as 'sick' for releasing such a book at such a sensitive time.

As for 399, who had often been billed as 'the most famous bear in the world', died the night of October 22, after being hit at milepost 126 at around 10:30pm - an area officials afterwards revealed had no streetlights.

'It's pretty dark, it's not lit,' Lt. John Stetzenback of the Lincoln County Sheriff's office told Cowboy State Daily at the time, adding,  'It truly was an accident,' 

He said the mama bear - whose massive following spurred park officials to go out out of their way to keep her alive and safe - was struck and killed by a Subaru while with her youngest cub - prompting a since-finished investigation.

By the time the driver got out of the car to inspect the condition of the grizzly, she was already dead. 

He waited at the scene of the collision for law enforcement to arrive before the car was later towed away.

'In a vehicle versus animal call, if upon investigation it's determined that, yes, the driver most likely was driving at the posted speed limit, we generally will not ticket on something like that,' Stetzenbach said.

The driver, who was not identified, was later cleared of any wrongdoing. All that is known about him is that he was a Wyoming man who was traveling west toward Star Valley on the night of the crash, Cowboy State Daily reported.

Officials have yet to offer an update on the fate of 399's four cubs. Stetzenbach did not blame the driver, saying at the time, 'The bear stepped right out into the road.'

The driver, he added, 'was unable to brake in time to avoid the bear, and the collision occurred.'