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If you're looking for an unusual Christmas gift for your mother, or any mother, Ferndale author Eric Bowen offers his new self-published book, "Wisdom of Our Mothers."

It's a compilation of 88 true stories and poems about what the contributors learned from their mothers.

Bowen, 57, is an accountant with Holland Health Services in Mount Vernon and the father of two teenage girls. He has pledged half of the profits from sale of the book to shelters for abused mothers and children. Bowen has lived in Whatcom County for 38 years and holds two degrees from Western Washington University.