Vanderbilt Brabson III was born in Knoxville, Tennessee where he attended school there and graduated from the University of Tennessee. Knoxville is also where Vanderbilt met his wife, Doretha, and they wed in April 1981, and have two daughters (India and Van’esha) and two sons (Vanderbilt IV and Joshua). A conference speaker and writer, Vanderbilt is one of the featured writers in ORDINARY PEOPLE magazine distributed in Tennessee, Georgia and Florida and a regularly scheduled annual conference speaker for LifeWay conferences and LifeWay teaching materials.  Writing has always been a passion for the author which lead to the release of his first book, "The Gatekeeper," and other future projects. The Gatekeeper is the first of four books scheduled for release.   Other titles scheduled for release by Doretha Publishing are "If the Shoe Fits," "Kingdom of Light," and "Only You."

"The Gatekeeper" (GK) May 2012 Books-In-Sync Trailer Contest Award; May 2011 GK featured book in Jennifer's Book of Month Club (WJXB-FM - B97.5)Knoxville, TN; GK Open Films 2011 Book Trailer Contest; 2010 GK Best Costume Design Award, Downtown Film Festival in Maryville, TN; 2010 GK AALBC Book Trailer Contest 2nd Best Book Trailer of 2010 Award; March 2011 TV interview on Community TV, Comcast Cable, Knoxville, TN 2011 Radio GK Book Interview (1580 AM), Knoxville, TN; GK available on Amazon's Kindle; 2012 interview by Ordinary People Magazine by Founder and Editorial Director, Verna V. Nickelberry of Memphis, TN for feature article. Check out "The Gatekeeper" on Twitter and Facebook.