D. Brandt turned a Kansas basement chemistry set into lifelong curiosity, publishing early poems in high school's Non Pareil (1973). A PhD in biochemistry from Kansas State led to decades in science. Poetry claimed him later; Redemptions is his first collection. He lives in Lafayette, Indiana, with his wife, Cheryl; their four children, spouses, and four grandchildren are scattered from nearby to afar. He runs barefoot and refuses easy answers.