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About the author

Under the pen name, Jacob Erdman, Lee wrote a weekly column for the Kings County Record, in Sussex for 31 years. The column, Letter from Home, depicted daily life on the farm and the small events that lay at its centre. These stories, connected by present-time reflections, are the essence of Lee’s book, Knowing By Heart: A Tribute to a Kennebecasis Valley Homestead Farm. It recounts the challenges and rewards of country life from the perspective of a couple who were blissfully unaware of the many surprises that farm life would bring.
“Country life, like the tree, draws its nourishment from the soil and the sky.”
– Jacob Erdman
Shortly after Lee Whitney and his family settled on their homestead farm in the Kennebecasis Valley of New Brunswick, he began writing for the Kings County Record under the pen name, Jacob Erdman.  His weekly column was titled “A Letter from Home.” His essays continued to be published in the paper for over thirty years, much to the delight of his devoted readers. Knowing By Heart presents a selection of these essays, along with additional observations and reflections by the author.

Lee Whitney writes with feeling and humour about dealing with the farm’s various domestic residents, including cows, pigs, ducks, chickens, dogs and cats. He ponders the habits and rights of the wildlife that also claim the house, barn, and farm grounds as their home place.

He writes with rapt attention, and sometimes caution, about the weather. His reflections on the seasons carefully note both their distinct beauty and their unavoidable vicissitudes. He speaks with gratitude about the ceremonies of our common life. He is especially responsive to the farm’s favourable location for observing the dark night sky and frequently reports on gazing in wonder at the presence of the moon, planets, stars, and constellations as they move with the seasons through the cosmos above his hillside farm.
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Taken together, the stories, observations, and reflections gathered in this book confirm that “knowing by heart” is the result of devoted participation in the life of a homestead farm.

About the artists

The pastel painting on the front cover is by Alice Whitney. Alice also created the maps, and the flourishes used throughout the book.

Alice is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in Fine Arts and has been a life-long practicing artist. She taught art at the high school in Sussex, New Brunswick for fourteen years and was a Charter Member of the Sussex Artist’s Co-op (now called AX). Alice is the author and illustrator of Henrietta’s Nightlight, which was shortlisted for the 2018 New Brunswick Book Award in the children’s picture book category.

Lee and Alice Whitney’s grandson, Stefan Westner created the prints for Knowing By Heart, adapting them from Alice’s pastel paintings done during their years of living at the farm.
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Stefan is a musician and visual artist. He is the organizer of the NB art collective ShiftWork; and co-founder of FLOURISH, a four-day music and art festival held annually in April in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Now working as a self-taught printmaker, Stefan’s artistic journey started very early, at his grandmother’s kitchen table.