Michael Hicks

There’s no bigger fan of Michael Hicks than me. You’ve probably seen the movie Dead Poets Society with the students climbing on their desks to intone “O Captain, My Captain” in praise of their teacher? That’s me when it comes to Michael Hicks. And I’m one of the lucky people that author Steven Peck mentions in his preface to Mike’s new memoir, Wineskin: Freakin’ Jesus in the ‘60s and ‘70s. I’m a former student who became one of his “professorial colleagues” until his retirement from the BYU School of Music a few years ago. So, this brief preview about Mike’s memoir is biased. I thought I should come clean about that.

Whether you know Mike personally, by reputation, or not at all, this memoir will speak to you and entertain you, regardless of your background or religious affiliation (past or present). I say “speak to you” because as strange and extraordinary as Mike’s life has been, especially in the younger years in California which he chronicles in this book, his experience speaks to all of us—the way the weirdness of our youthful encounters and obsessions shape our adult life. 

I doubt I’m the only one who identifies with Mike’s youthful obsessions with monsters, sci-fi B movies, and the classic television series Twilight Zone, despite our generational divide, not to mention his discovery and subsequent obsession with music. His recounting of recording clips off his clock radio, attending music festivals and concerts, and seeing films like 2001: A Space Odyssey that all fueled his interests, match up with my own versions of such experiences, and I expect most readers will find similar analogs. 

But to get back to the extraordinary parts that will entertain, Mike’s life will seem far from typical for most readers, especially those who have grown up as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This was certainly my reaction, personally, when I first got to know Mike as his student in Composition 1 at BYU in 1988—my young mind blown away by the new music of Birtwistle and Crumb he was introducing me to, the personal stories from his “Jesus Freak” days I would occasionally get glimpses of during conversations in his office, and the evidence of his early obsessions with books, recordings, and memorabilia all around. 

I didn’t know there were Mormons like Mike, and I’m grateful for the detail this memoir adds to the bits and pieces of his story that I’ve put together in the years I’ve known and worked with him. To use a line that shows up in letters I reserve for my best students, “I give Wineskin my highest recommendation.” Read it, enjoy it.—Steven Ricks (Wineskin: Freakin’ Jesus in the ‘60s and ‘70s is to be released on November 21.)