Ray Hicks

Lenard Ray Hicks (August 29, 1922 – April 20, 2003)[1][2] was a renowned Appalachian storyteller, who lived his entire life on Beech Mountain, North Carolina. He was particularly known for the telling of Jack Tales.

For the British Olympic cyclist, see Ray Hicks (cyclist).

Ray Hicks
Hicks in 1983
Born
Lenard Ray Hicks

(1922-08-22)August 22, 1922
Banner Elk, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedApril 20, 2003(2003-04-20) (aged 80)
Boone, North Carolina
NationalityAmerican
OccupationStoryteller, farmer, mechanic
Years active1951–2003
Known forJack tales

He was a recipient of a 1983 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.[3]

Biography

Ray Hicks was born on August 29, 1922 in Banner Elk, North Carolina. He was the fourth of 11 children[4] of Nathan and Rena Hicks.[5] He had Cherokee ancestry, traced through his great-grandmother.[6]

Storytelling and ballad-singing were a big part of life with the Hicks family. Ray was in the eighth generation of family storytellers.[4] Nathan played banjo and dulcimer and encouraged Ray to sing along with him.[5] Ray's cousin, Frank Proffitt, was also a talented musician, known for his performance of the ballad "Tom Dooley" among others.[7]

The Hicks family lived in conditions of extreme poverty in the relatively isolated mountains of North Carolina near Banner Elk. The family got by selling carpets handwoven by Rena and dulcimers crafted by Nathan as well as other work. In 1945, Nathan committed suicide. Ray was drafted into the army, but was rejected because he had broken his arm. Rena died in 1975, leaving Ray the Hicks' home-place and child raising duties for his younger siblings.[7]

Ray married Rosa Violet Harmon.[8] Rosa also grew up in Beech Mountain.[5] The couple's daily lives in their Beech Mountain home embodied the traditional culture and practices of their community.[7] They raised their five children in a cabin built by Ray's grandfather.[4]

Hicks died of prostate cancer at a nursing home in Boone, North Carolina on April 20, 2003.[2] His wife Rosa died on January 31, 2014.[8]

Career

As an adult, he worked as a farmer and mechanic. To earn extra money, Hicks also foraged various plants and materials from the forest, a skill he had learned as a boy.[4]

In 1951, Hicks was invited to visit a teacher's classroom at Cove Creek Elementary School. It was the first time he told stories in a public setting.[9]

Hicks was best known for his stories known as Jack Tales. Jack tales consist of fairy tale elements with intertwined Southern Appalachian culture. Some examples of Jack Tales are "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Jack and the Giant Killer".[10]

As a featured performer, Hicks took the stage at the first National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee on October 7, 1973. After this performance, he was invited back many times in the years that followed.

Hicks was well known for his unique brogue and was even studied by a linguist from England.[9] He was featured in The New Yorker magazine and in some documentaries.[10]

Awards and honors

In 1983, Hicks received a National Heritage Fellowship, which is a lifetime honor given to master folk and traditional artists.[11]

In 1991, he received a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award.[10]

References
  1. "About Ray Hicks". www.rayhicks.com. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  2. Martin, Douglas (April 27, 2003). "Ray Hicks, Who Told Yarns Older Than America, Dies at 80". The New York Times. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  3. "NEA National Heritage Fellowships 1983". www.arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  4. "Ray Hicks: Appalachian Storyteller". www.arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  5. Isbell, Robert (1996). Ray Hicks: Master Storyteller of the Blue Ridge. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0807849626.
  6. Cozzo, David (Summer 2003). "Beyond Tall Tales: Ray Hicks and Mountain Herbalism". Appalachian Journal. 30 (4): 286. Retrieved November 23, 2020 – via JSTOR.
  7. Kelton, Jim, and Austin Walker. Ray and Rosa Hicks: The Last of the Old-Time Storytellers. Charlotte, NC: Charles and Jane Hadley, 2000.
  8. Regan-Blake, Connie (February 5, 2014). "In Memory of Rosa Violet Harmon Hicks". International Storytelling Center. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  9. Regan-Blake, Connie (September–October 2002). "From Another Time: The Legacy of Ray Hicks". Storytelling Magazine. Vol. 14 no. 5. pp. 11–15. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  10. "Historic Artist: Ray Hicks". Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. n.d. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  11. "Ray Hicks Made Folktales Come Alive". wncw.org. Isothermal Community College. March 18, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
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