Walter Jackson Hicks

1942 - 2024

Walter Jackson Hicks

December 2, 1942 - January 28, 2024

Sacramento, California - Walter Jackson "Jack" Hicks born 12/2/42 passed away peacefully in his Sacramento home 1/28/24 after a prolonged illness.

A lover of word culture and language, Jack spent 40 years writing, teaching and encouraging students, professors, aspiring and established writers in their craft. Always nurturing them to follow their own paths.

Hicks was a professor of English at UC Davis. He was co-founder and former Director of the Undergraduate/Graduate Creative Writing Program (1992-2001). He created the Department of English introductory undergrad creative writing sequence, one of the largest in the country.

Hicks was Founding Director of "The Art of the Wild," a summer residence program on Writing with nature, wilderness and the environment convening in The Sierras each summer.

Hicks developed and taught recent courses in the Department of English and the Humanities Program on California literature, California crises and disasters, John Steinbeck, Los Angeles in film and prose and the contemporary global detective novel.

The Professor Jack Hicks Award in English was established at UC Davis. It provides support for undergraduate and graduate students in English to pursue avenues of learning that reach "beyond the classroom" and stretch the traditional definitions of literary scholarship, creative writing, and media studies.

He came from a humble beginning in working-class Baltimore, Maryland. Hicks came from a lineage of mine and factory workers in rural Louisa County, Virginia. His parents Hilton Jackson (John) and Pearl Hicks, sisters Peg and Juanita precede him in death.

Hicks attended Sparrows Point High School, and Towson State University for undergraduate work.

Jack Hicks received his PhD in American Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Publications include two critical books on contemporary fiction (Cutting Edges and In the Singer's Temple), two edited volumes and many articles and reviews. He also published 40+ articles on film, television, digital culture, sports and popular culture, in magazines ranging from Nation to TV Guide

Hicks worked as editor of counterculture Baltimore Free Press during the mid-sixties, with other notables, Robert Ward, and John Waters.

Moving west to Davis in the early 1970s, Hicks began a romance with the Literature of the West.

Jack Hicks affected many lives through his decades. His quick wit, and poignant stories put him in the spotlight of any room he found himself. His love and knowledge of baseball and American culture were highlights of his fertile mind.

Hicks will be missed by children, Jon Hicks (Linda), Garth Hicks, (Jenny), and Carson Hicks. Grandchildren Taylor Ross (PJ), Ezra Hicks, and Lucy Hicks. Great Grandchildren, Madison and Owen Ross. Countless close friends and those he touched in and out of the classroom and a career in writing.

A memorial is being planned by the family with no date set as yet.