"Robert Hicks — renowned historic preservationist, art collector, music publisher, world-class raconteur and author of three novels, two of them national best-sellers — died Friday at his home near Franklin." With those words, from his obituary, a life had come to an end and a light went out in our corner of the world. But an indelible legacy lives on in the history of Franklin and Williamson County.

 

Robert came to Tennessee in his early twenties from what he referred to as a small southern town, otherwise known as Palm Beach, Florida. He eventually worked in music publishing and with country music artists such as George Ducas, John Hiatt, Amy Grant and Vince Gill. Later, he partnered with B.B. King on the musician's nationwide chain of blues clubs — for which he earned the title "Curator of Vibe" from the legendary bluesman.

 

Whether he was a "curator of vibe," a "whiskey preservationist" or a "national treasure," all of which appear on his business card: He was, in fact, someone who no one forgot upon meeting and for whom life was a gift he treasured and measured by the beautiful life well lived that he had. Filled with exemplary moments, tremendous personal success and profoundly significant successes in the things he championed for this community; His was a life of merit few men see, but he was not one to boast, only pass on his seemingly unlimited knowledge, wit, wisdom and gift of storytelling to anyone lucky enough to be his audience.

 

"He lived his life filled with gratitude…certainly over the last few years of his life," Mindy Tate, a good friend, said upon his passing. "We're just sad, and we're going to miss him. But we want to live our lives in gratitude for his friendship and to exemplify his life."

 

Whether you knew Robert or not, his legacy can be seen all around us here in Williamson County. To tick off a list of his contributions would be more pages than this piece would allow but to name a few of note:

Robert had become fascinated with the 1864 Battle of Franklin — a desperate Confederate last stand at which some two thousand men died in a single afternoon — and with a dilapidated mansion that had served as a field hospital near the center of the fighting. Hicks spearheaded the house's restoration, and soon it was said of his service to this work that he was "the driving force in the restoration and preservation of Historic Carnton Plantation."

 

Franklin's Charge took on the massive mission of saving what remains of the eastern flank of the battlefield at Franklin -– the largest remaining undeveloped fragment of the battlefield -– and turning it into a public battlefield park. The American Battlefield Protection Program has called this endeavor "the largest battlefield reclamation in North American history." By the end of 2005, Franklin's Charge had already raised over 5 million dollars toward this goal, surpassing anything ever done within any other community in America to preserve battlefield open space. As Jim Lighthizer, President of the Civil War Preservation Trust, has said, "There is no 'close second' in any community in America to what Robert Hicks and Franklin's Charge has done in Franklin."

 

National celebrity came when Robert turned to writing fiction. His first novel, set in Franklin at none other than his beloved Carnton, was the New York Times Bestseller, The Widow of the South. His success had similar repercussions for Franklin: The town boomed as a destination for heritage tourists and now draws more than 125,000 such visitors every year, more than 50,000 of whom visit Carnton. He followed with A Separate Country and The Orphan Mother.

 

His friendships and his impact on individuals far and near were no more evident than as he was laid to rest in the shadow of his muse, Carnton. "Among his gifts, Robert was a great collector of people," wrote one friend on Facebook shortly after his passing. Even as he battled cancer over four years, other friends said, Robert's outstanding characteristic was his enduring sense of gratitude. "The glass of life is overflowing," he wrote just a few days before his death.