Duane L. Herrmann

Duane L. Herrmann, a reluctant carbon-based life-form, was surprised to find himself in 1951 on a farm in Kansas.  He’s still trying to make sense of it but has grown fond of grass waving in the wind, trees, and the enchantment of moonlight.  He aspires to be a hermit, but would miss his children (four), grandchildren (seven), and a few friends (?).  His work has been published in many real places and online, even some of both in languages he can’t read (English is difficult enough!).  He has published nine collections of poetry (one dual-language: English-German), two collections of short stories, one history (which received the Ferguson Kansas History Book Award in 2007), a sci fi novel and so many poems (first published in 1969), essays, children's stories, and short memoirs, he's not counted.  He is working on a collection of short stories, a collection of history essays and another collection of poetry.  He is known to carry baby kittens in his mouth, pet snakes, and converse with owls, but is careful not to anger them!  All this, despite a traumatic, abusive childhood (first suicidal at age two) embellished with dyslexia, ADHD (both unknown at the time), cyclothymia, an anxiety disorder, Selective Mutism, and now, PTSD.  He's still trying to figure out how to perform human and breathe at the same time.