Ray Hicks

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

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

Storytelling and ballad-singing were a big part of life with the Hicks family. Ray was in the eighth generation of family storytellers.

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. Rosa also grew up in Beech Mountain.

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".

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.

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