In 1935, Hicks was dismissed from his teaching position at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which he claimed to be politically motivated although school officials denied it. He continued to teach at various institutions but devoted more and more of his time to writing. In 1936, Hicks was asked to co-write "John Reed: The Making of a Revolutionary", a biography of radical journalist John Reed. Communist Party General Secretary Earl Browder pressured Hicks to remove several passages that reflected negatively on the Soviet Union, but in the end, the book was praised for its even-handed and unbiased presentation.