Daniel Whitehead Hicky

1900s−1930s (Early life and career)

Daniel Whitehead Hicky a.k.a. "Jack" was born in Social Circle, Georgia, and very shortly thereafter his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee and Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was educated in private schools. While attending St. Paul's school in Memphis, Hicky wrote a poem called, "Mother", which the faculty applauded and approved for publishing in the school annual. His mother was thrilled, but his father wrote a note which read, "Dear Son: Don't ever let this happen again." In 1919 the family came back to Georgia for residence, locating in Atlanta, where he first began writing poems which appeared in Frank L. Stanton's Just from Georgia, he also became connected with a local cotton firm. Hicky remained at the cotton firm for eight years, continuing his writing during lulls in the routine of his office duties, and in the evenings at his home. By 1934, Hicky left the cotton business to devote himself to full-time writing, and traveled the Mediterrean, Europe, Egypt, The Holy Land, Africa, The West Indies, South America, Morocco, Yuccas, Greece and many other foreign lands. Some of his poems such as Memory of Morocco, Yuccas Near Taos, The Hills of Greece, and In Heidelberg, In Heidelberg reflect his travels. He was president of the Atlanta Writer's Club from 1926–27, a columnist of The Atlanta Constitution for eight years (So I Was Saying), and winner of the Poetry Society of America's first prize in 1931 for his sonnet, "Machines" Hicky was 'for a time the toast of the literati.' He wrote with remarkable ease, rarely changing a poem from its original version. He explains his poetry like this: 'I just wrote what came into my heart or mind... and only from inspiration,' and 'If you offered me $1,000 to write a poem today, I couldn't do it to save my life. I can not contrive a poem.' He stammered occasionally, except when he read poetry. Joseph Auslander, the first poet laureate of the United States Congress termed him a "fitting successor to Sidney Lanier. And he was called, "a real poet whose work is strangely satisfying and who achieves the difficult task of making the intangible tangible" by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and a "poet of genius" by Archibald Rutledge. He published 6 volumes of poems. The first, Bright Harbor, was published in 1932 and the others would come along through the early 1950s, the exception of his 'final farewell' book of poetry published shortly before his death. Many of his poems were frequently published in the most important newspapers and magazines, college textbooks, and for years his poems were included in Thomas Moult's annual volume, Best Poems. He has read before the Poetry Society of America in New York, and at various other poetry societies, universities, and organizations and has given lectures at the invitation of Joseph Auslander of Columbia University. His Thirteen Sonnets of Georgia, was illustrated by Cornelia Cunningham, Atlanta artist, and was issued to commemorate Georgia's Bi-centennial celebration. In these poems the poet pays frank tribute to his native state.

Wild Heron acclaim

In 1940, Hicky's 4th book of poetry Wild Heron received acclaim by United States Poet Laureate, Joseph Auslander, whose review said, "We can not help feeling that Mr. Hicky is a fit successor to Sidney Lanier, bright star whose glory is less than only that of Edgar Allan Poe in all the southern galaxy." And "On the whole, Mr. Hicky is a 'conventional' poet. That is, he is 'conventional' in contrast to the 'modern' poets. His themes, his images and his tendencies are towards the traditional, which, in a sense, is to say the pure essence of poetry." - writing in The Atlanta Constitution in 1940. Many of the poems were written in the coastal islands of Georgia, most notably Sea Island and St. Simon's. The book was also shortlisted for the 1941 Pulitzer Prize.

World War II, A Letter From the Front, and Margaret Mitchell

In September 1942, Hicky volunteered for the Army Air Corps. He was stationed at the 595th Army Air Force Training Station in Miami Beach, FL. He worked for the Bellringer, a company magazine published by Bell Aircraft, the forerunner of Lockheed Martin at Marietta, GA. An article in The Miami News in 1951, wrote that "There is one (poem) written in 1943 which is singularly pertinent today. It is called, "A Letter From the Front", and Hicky admits it's one of his favorites. The poem became known to American service men around the world through Hicky's friendship with the late Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind. When GWTW was enjoying a terrific boom during the war years, Mitchell got fan letters from the men asking "Is Georgia really like it is in your book?" For convenience, Mitchell made a lot of copies of "A Letter From the Front" and mailed them to her fans with the notation, "Here's what a Georgia soldier says about it."

For a time Hicky resided at the Della Manta Apartments in Ansley Park, Atlanta, GA located at the intersection of Piedmont Avenue and 15th Street (now known as the One South Prado Condominiums). Hicky and his then apartment mate and Atlanta Constitution reporter, Jim Furniss, claimed they were too poor to own a telephone, but they could get their friend, Julius Gaines, the head waiter at the Piedmont Driving Club across the street to take messages for them and call them to the phone at the bar if it was urgent. "Mitchell", or "Peggy" as known by Hicky, resided in apartment #3 of the Della Manta the last 10 years of her life until her death in 1949. It is thought the manuscript of "Gone With the Wind" burned in the basement furnace of this building. In a letter dated September 11, 1944 addressed to Mr. Daniel Whitehead Hicky, Mitchell says she received a letter from a friend in the marine corps, a South Georgia man and newspaper editor, who quoted one of Mr. Hicky's poems in full, as he did not know she knew him or his poetry. Margaret Mitchell wrote, 'The poem evidently meant so much to him, brought back the crepe myrtle and the watermelons and the cotton fields at home. I thought you'd like to know that one of your poems is traveling about in a Marine corps combat pack, carrying with it the sights and smells of home to one who sometimes wonders if he will ever know them again. I have told you several times that this is my favorite of all your poems. Now I'm glad to have my judgement backed up by a man who is in better position than I am to pass judgement.'

Never the Nightingale

Hicky's 5th book of poems Never the Nightingale was published by Tupper and Love (Atlanta) in 1951. It would be his last for more than two decades. The book was illustrated by Athos Menaboni.

1960s−1976 (Later years)

Hicky worked for the United States Department of Agriculture in Atlanta for many years, though later he was transferred to Washington D.C. after an investigation was launched stemming from accusations of homosexuality by a co-worker(s). His phone and his supervisor's was tapped and after months of investigating, although they never found any evidence to support the allegations, he was charged with taking extended lunch breaks. His supervisor refused to fire him for such an unjust cause, but was reprimanded and Hicky was transferred to Washington D.C.

Hicky retired from his career with the USDA in the early 1970s. Although he had not published a book since Never the Nightingale (1951), he continued to write but less often. By this time all of his books were out of print. In The Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, published in March 1973, "The Reddening Leaves of Daniel Whitehead Hicky", Hicky was interviewed by newspaper journalist and mystery writer, Keith Coulbourn prior to his "final farewell" book, The Poems of Daniel Whitehead Hicky. He tells Coulbourn, one of the difficulties was that he had simply written himself out. When you write 750 or more poems, you've said just about everything you have to say. "If I wrote much more, I would begin plagiarizing myself", Hicky said. Also, by the 1970s the times and tastes had changed. Mr. Hicky said current poetry could not be at a lower level, and has as much poetry to it as beating a tin pan. He said, "it's impossible to read or enjoy. There's no sense to it. The editors are simply taken in, don't you know, as they were by Gertrude Stein, who was laughing up her sleeves at them all the time - and she said so."The Poems of Daniel Whitehead Hicky was published a couple years later in 1975, the year prior to his death. The book was encouraged by friends and fans as one last final farewell. It contained mostly older poems that were published in magazines and newspapers, and some new one's as well. He is buried at Westview Cemetery in Atlanta, GA.

Published works

His published work includes:

In addition to his published books, his poems were frequently published in newspapers and magazines such as Harper's Magazine, The Atlanta Constitution, The Free Lance–Star, The Saturday Evening Post, The North American Review, The Pittsburgh Press, The New York Times, Scribner's Magazine, The American Mercury, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan Magazine, The Catholic World, McCall's Magazine, The Georgia Review, The Ladies' Home Journal, New York Herald-Tribune, Good Housekeeping, The Yale Review, Georgia Magazine, The North American Review, The Saturday Review of Literature, The Progressive Farmer, and The Bellringer.

Awards and distinctions