July 6, 2016 – Poet, songwriter and erstwhile cab driver, Bill Hawkins died of cancer on July 4, 2016.
A poet is deeply conflicted and it’s in his work that he reconciles those deep conflicts.’
— Irving Layton
It’s traditional to begin these types of obituaries with an anecdote that best sums up the subject as a whole person.
But Bill Hawkins defies the one anecdote rule.
Bill Hawkins defied many of the rules, often to his personal and professional detriment.
And as with most people who communed with many, and lived the younger portion of life to excess, it’s occasionally difficult to determine where the truth ends and exaggeration begins.
