Charles A. Hicks (January 4, 1939,

Marion, North Carolina Marion is a city in and the county seat of McDowell County, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1844, the city was named in honor of Francis Marion, Brigadier General Francis Marion, the American Revolutionary War Hero whose talent in gue ...

May 12, 2015), also known as "Charlie B", was an American broadcaster familiar to listeners in radio markets throughout the southeastern United States. He worked in the field for 55 years. Hicks got his start in 1954 as a late night

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

at WHBT in

Harriman, Tennessee Harriman is a city located primarily in Roane County, Tennessee, with a small extension into Morgan County. The population of Harriman was 5,892 at the time of the 2020 census. Geography Harriman is situated along the physiographic boundary ...

, at the age of 16. He did a stint as a reporter and sports anchor for

WLOS-TV WLOS (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Asheville, North Carolina, United States, broadcasting ABC and MyNetworkTV programming to Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group in an eff ...

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

, where he covered the fatal crash of

Piedmont Airlines Piedmont Airlines, Inc. ( ) is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in Wicomico County, Maryland, near the Salisbury, Maryland, city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American ...

Flight 22 on July 19, 1967. In the early 1960s Hicks was working at radio station WSEV in

Sevierville, Tennessee Sevierville ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee, United States, located in East Tennessee. The population was 17,889 at the 2020 United States Census. History Native Americans of the Woodland period were among th ...

, when a then-unknown and teenage

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

began singing live in the studio to launch her career. In April 1963, while working as a reporter for WGAD in

Gadsden, Alabama Gadsden is the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located on the Coosa River about northeast of Birmingham and southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statist ...

, Hicks interviewed civil rights activist William L. Moore minutes before the latter was murdered along rural U.S. Highway 11. Afterwards Hicks gave testimony before a Federal

grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...

in Gadsden. Documentary filmmaker Keith Beauchamp interviewed Hicks about his recollections of the incident for a segment of the

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries, similar to corporate sibling HLN. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery's netw ...

television series ''The Injustice Files''. Later in his career Hicks held positions of vice-president and general manager with Suburban Radio Group and

Capitol Broadcasting Company The Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc. (CBC) is an American media company based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Capitol owns three television stations and nine radio stations in the Raleigh–Durham and Wilmington, North Carolina, Wilmington areas o ...

, both headquartered in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. He was general manager of radio stations WEGO in

Concord, North Carolina Concord ( ) is the most populous city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 105,240 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Concord is the second-most populous city in the Cha ...

WKEE WKEE-FM (100.5 MHz) is a contemporary hit radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Huntington, West Virginia, serving Huntington, West Virginia, Ashland, Kentucky, and Ironton, Ohio. WKEE-FM is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. WKEE-F ...

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell County, West Virginia, Cabell and Wayne County, West Virginia, Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The County seat, seat of Cabell County, the city is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, O ...

, and WABZ in

Albemarle, North Carolina Albemarle () is a city in and the county seat of Stanly County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 16,432 in the 2020 census. History Etymology This place-name is derived from the English surname Albemarle. According to a 190 ...

. Hicks retired from broadcasting in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hicks, Charlie 1939 births 2015 deaths American radio DJs American radio reporters and correspondents American male journalists Radio personalities from North Carolina Radio personalities from Tennessee People from Marion, North Carolina