David Stallings is a poet, hiker, Zen student and father from Bainbridge Island, Washington. He was born in the South, raised in Alaska and Colorado before settling in the Pacific Northwest.

He was once married, has one child, a daughter, who has taught him much of value–and a grandson.   He completed a Ph.D. in social geography, which he taught in the Midwest and at the University of Washington, and has worked for many years to develop expanded markets for public transportation in the Puget Sound area.

He has also long written a poem almost every day, adopting William Stafford’s advice to “lower your standards” in order to do so. He has published poems in several national literary journals and two anthologies, and is occasionally fortunate enough to give a poetry reading. A portion of his writing involves an ongoing conversation with the 8^th century Chinese hermit poet, Han-shan. A series of responses to one hundred of the old fellow’s surviving poems slowly nears completion.