Robert Goswitz was born and raised in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, graduated from Milton College, and holds an MA in Education from the University of Wisconsin Whitewater. He was drafted into the US Army in March of 1971 and served in Vietnam from September 1971 to August 1972 as a member of the 196th Brigade, the last American Army infantry unit in country. Goswitz was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge and the Bronze Star for his service.

After the military, Goswitz was a special education teacher from 1974 until his retirement in 2007. During his career, he worked with cognitively disabled, emotionally disturbed, and at-risk youth in the Wauwatosa and Waukesha School Districts. Goswitz lives on the banks of the beautiful Bark River in Hartland, Wisconsin, with his lovely, patient, and semi-saintly wife of thirty-six years, Jody. He is the proud father of two: his son, Robert, a supervisor for Whole Foods in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and daughter, Andrea, a high school art teacher in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.