He spends most of his waking hours thinking about, talking about, dreaming about the city in which he has lived and worked for 26 years, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

All of which is expressed in the five-times-a-week town-crier style column "Hicks on Six" in the Edmonton Sun. "Hicks on Six" is considered Edmonton's best-read newspaper column.

Graham is the son of a Canadian diplomat and an actress, kindling a life-long interest in politics, theatre, rock 'n' roll, pop culture, and, from origins unknown, sports.He was lucky enough to spend much of his childhood abroad, with his dad taking the family with him to diplomatic postings in the United States, India, Kenya and Ghana.

After attending high schools in Canada, India and Switzerland, Graham went to the University of Toronto, majoring in political science and history. Being a full-fledged back-to-the land hippie, he went on to graduate from the Kemptville College of Agriculture with a diploma in Agricultural Technology.

Finally realizing he wouldn't be a farmer or a rock 'n' roll star, he did an inventory of his talents and discovered all he did very well was write, and at that did not have a fictional bone in his body. Ergo, journalism, starting in 1974 as a newsroom copy (errand) boy at the Ottawa Citizen. Then it was on to the Brandon Sun (Manitoba) and the Edmonton Journal, hired to combate the dreaded upstart, the tabloid Edmonton Sun.

One thing led to another, and Graham found himself at the Edmonton Sun in 1981, found himself in a newspaper that gave him the freedom to speak his mind, that had a family culture, that cared about its employees.

Columns were and are what he does best, starting with entertainment, then city hall, then a general news column. In 1992, he moved over to Page Six, the lead column of the Edmonton Sun. "Hicks on Six" has never looked back.

Along the way, he met his wife Maria in 1985 in Edmonton, married in 1987. Any time not working is spent raising three sports and arts-minded daughters, Elizabeth, 14; Rosalina, 13 and Cynthia, 10.

Actions usually speak louder than a weekly torrent of words, Graham has been up to his eyeballs in volunteer/community activities.

He was the founder, is the fund-raiser and spokesman for the annual Edmonton Sun/Salvation Army "Adopt-A-Teen" Christmas project, providing Christmas gifts for 2,300 young teens from low-income Edmonton families last Christmas.

Last year, he chaired the $2.85 million Catholic Social Services "Sign of Hope" Campaign. For 10 years, he's organized Edmonton Sun Christmas phone-in auctions, raising over $500,000 for the Edmonton Christmas Bureau and other charities.

For his efforts, Alberta's Lieutenant Governor, the wonderful Lois Hole, presented Graham with the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal for community service in May of 2003.

Books include "Making Money The Old-Fashioned Way," co-authored with financial advisor and close friend Ron Hiebert of Scotia-McLeod. This past Christmas, Graham released the first of a series of reasonably priced soft-cover joke books, compilations of jokes published in Hicks on Six for the past 12 years, and available through this web site. Of course, proceeds are going to charity.

Hobbies? Raising children, having lively conversations with friends over too much beer, continuing with his wife to learn as much as possible about Christianity and the world's other great religions. Blowing all our money on great family vacations every three years (2002, France, Ireland, England; planned for 2005, Germany (Catholic World Youth Day in Cologne) and Italy). Moaning over the trials and tribulations of the Edmonton Oilers. Trying, without great success, to stay fit.

Absolute favorite pastime? Chronicling the evolution of the city/society in which he lives, hopes to live for the rest of his life, and which he hopes will provide enough opportunity for his children to lead fulfilled lives, should they chose to stay.

Graham can be contacted by phone at the Edmonton Sun newspaper, 780-468-0100, or by e-mail at hickson6@edm.sunpub.com