Lenard Ray Hicks (August 29, 1922 – April 20, 2003)[1][2] was an Appalachian storyteller who lived his entire life on Beech Mountain, North Carolina.

[7] The Hicks family lived in conditions of extreme poverty in the relatively isolated mountains of North Carolina near Banner Elk.

Rena died in 1975, leaving Ray the Hicks' home-place and child raising duties for his younger siblings.

[5] The couple's daily lives in their Beech Mountain home embodied the traditional culture and practices of their community.

[4] Hicks died of prostate cancer at a nursing home in Boone, North Carolina, on April 20, 2003.

To earn extra money, Hicks also foraged various plants and materials from the forest, a skill he had learned as a boy.

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