[2] When he was thirteen, Hawkes's mother bought him a guitar and chord book, and his father soon gave him a Gibson A4 mandolin.
[3] In the late 1940s, Hawkes built a pirate radio station broadcasting at 1210 KC on the AM dial, which he shut down in 1949 after the FCC learned of his illegal operation.
[5] In 1951, during the Korean War, Hawkes entered the Maine National Guard and was stationed in North Africa, where he was a disc jockey for Armed Forces Radio and performed for the troops.
[6] Together, they recorded many high-profile artists, including Dick Curless, Hal Lone Pine, and Lenny Breau.
[12] After his 80th birthday, then-Senator Olympia Snowe delivered a tribute to him in the Congressional Record, calling Hawkes "a Maine and national treasure.