We live on a tight-knit block with only eight houses. The occupants of seven of those houses interact a lot. There are more than a dozen kids, all but one under 7, and we have at least one round robin a year, in addition to cookouts and other parties.
In spring, summer and fall, we're all outside sharing a beer, a laugh and watching the kids play. But when the cold weather rolls in, we shutter up in our houses and rarely see each other. This is so true that when my son saw a photo of two neighbor kids on a Christmas card this morning, he seemed unsure of who they were. And these are kids with whom he's twice spent three months on a daily basis! Kids that he definitely knows.
When the thaw came this weekend, I peeked out the window and the gang was outside! That led to "play dates" -- for lack of a better word two days in a row and a renewed sense of community amid what has seemed like a pretty bleak season.
Even if it was only in the 40s and there was no sun, for a brief shining moment, it felt like summer in Milwaukee this weekend and boy was it refreshing.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
