Robert Erickson (born 1947 in Lincoln, Nebraska) is an American furniture designer and woodworker in Nevada City, California.
After leaving University of Nebraska with an English degree in 1969, Erickson traveled to Druid Heights in Marin County, California to study with furniture makers Ed Stiles and Roger Somers.
[1][2] In the summer of 1970, Erickson was employed by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder, said to be inspiration for Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums.
His role was to help hand-build a Japanese and Native American-inspired home in Nevada County, California.
[1][2] Erickson Woodworking was established next to Snyder's property the same year when he bought a plot of land to build his workshop, and he also sold his first chair.