Pieces of My Life is mostly devoted to the poems of Robt. G. Hoskins but is also a resume of the Milwaukee writer-educator’s life. His summary of accomplishments—which might have been better served if organized chronologically or thematically—includes a stint as Paul Newman’s personal driver when the actor campaigned in Wisconsin for Eugene McCarthy in 1968. Hoskins writes that he was present in McCarthy’s hotel suite during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He was also an extra in director Norman Jewison’s Gaily, Gaily, perhaps the only big studio movie filmed in Milwaukee in the ‘60s.
For a quarter century Hoskins taught English at Oconomowoc High School. He also chaired the Waukesha County Democratic Party, among other things The verses collected in Pieces of My Life are often cleverly rhymed and usually heartfelt, not the sort to find favor with 20th century modernists but— I kept thinking—material for great songs. He had a few nudges from Nashville, but never cracked the Billboard charts.
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