Gerald Hicks

I was born in Washington, Indiana to the only liberal parents in the whole small community. I am a graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism. I spent two years in the Army and I am a Vietnam vet.

I worked for two small-city newspapers during summers as a college intern. But my first post-college/post Army job was at the Louisville Courier-Journal & Times in Kentucky, because it was one of the few liberal newspapers in the South.

After ten years at the Louisville papers I moved to the Los Angeles Times in late 1979, where I spent 24-plus years, all of it in the large Orange County office in Costa Mesa. I covered criminal courts most of my LA Times career but the last ten years at the Times I was a columnist. 

I took early retirement because the LA Times was having financial troubles and I got a great buy-out package. I immediately began free-lance writing, mostly for Orange Coast magazine. And less than a year later (18 years ago) I was hired by Susan Paterno in your English Department as an adjunct professor, to write weekly critiques for the Panther student newspaper and teach an intro to journalism class. Soon after that I took over teaching the online magazine class, which I still teach today.

I never know whether to mention awards. The only one that stands out as special, I guess, is that I won a Bronze Star for my Vietnam service. It was mainly for work with Vietnamese orphans --- most of them abandoned by American military fathers who returned to the U.S. after their service.

Thanksgiving week my wife Vicky Clepper and I will celebrate our 46th wedding anniversary. We have two children (adult son and daughter) and we have three marvelous grandchildren (all girls.)

And a final note: I plan to be at Chapman as long as you folks will have me because Susan Paterno sets the highest of standards in journalism integrity and ethics and research. I am honored just to be a part of that teaching process.