March 16, 2017, was a sad day for Murray Hawkes’s loved ones. That’s the day the 93-year-old farmer, who for decades had worked the gently rolling fields around his farm in Waterford, New Brunswick, near Poley Mountain, died.
Although Murray’s life was filled with much sadness and heartbreak, including the loss of his wife, two children, five brothers and two sisters, he loved life. Pretty much every day, rain or shine, he got up, jumped on his John Deere tractor and worked the land.
Taking great pride in his work, Murray gained the respect of the farming community around Sussex and south-central New Brunswick. Anyone in the area will tell you that he was well-loved and left behind a reputation for kindness and love of family and community. He also left behind his John Deere cap and big, green-and-yellow John Deere suspenders, which is what I first noticed when Fredericton photographer Keith Minchin sent his portrait of Murray to me.
I never met Murray Hawkes face to face, but I did have the pleasure of interviewing him over the phone for Minchin’s 2015 book Faces of New Brunswick. As a member of the editorial team, I was honoured to work with some of the province’s most talented writers (including the one who wrote Murray’s profile), editors, translators and designers, not to mention Minchin’s inspiring photographic portraits of more than 200 New Brunswickers.
“I don’t take portraits,” Minchin says, “they are given to me. For me, a successful portrait conveys a sense of who the subject is and their thoughts and perspectives on life. Combined with a profile, a portrait can be an integral part of the historical record that is available to future generations.”
During his 43-year career as a photographer, Minchin has produced several books, including the popular Faces of Fredericton, published in 1990. Since many of the people profiled in that book have passed, it provides a fascinating glimpse into Fredericton’s social life during a vital time in the city’s history.
Minchin says that all the people in his books are important to their own world and to the people who have their perspective on them, a perspective that’s unique to a specific time and place. For me, his portrait of Murray Hawkes not only provides a glimpse into a particular time and place; it also celebrates a great New Brunswicker. So does the accompanying profile.
“It’s been years since he retired from farming, but Murray Hawkes, at 91, still dresses every day for work — green shirt and green pants held up by green-and-yellow John Deere suspenders. ‘One thing’s for sure,’ says his daughter Carolyn, ‘dad is genuine.’
“Most of his life, Hawkes farmed the rolling hills around Waterford, near Sussex, with draft horses, and some of the newfangled changes he sees just don’t seem right. ‘Today you just set down on a tractor and away you go,’ he says. ‘They just set down and they hay away.’
“He especially laments the decline of the family farm. Hawkes, who passed his own farm on to his son, Phillip, reckons it’s the end of an era. ‘Startin’ out farmin’? Sure, if they had all the riggin’. But it would cost a pile of money to get all them tractors.’”
You’ve got to love the New Brunswick vernacular. Combined with the portrait, the words—Murray’s words, in particular—convey a sense not only of the man but also of the land itself.
During this time of worldwide sadness, heartbreak and loss, Minchin’s portrait of Murray Hawkes reminds me that the joy of life comes from our relationships. It’s all about the people in our lives. Although I spoke with him only briefly, I’m pretty sure that if I were able to ring Murray up on the phone again and tell him that, he would agree.
No doubt, his loved ones would too.
Murray was my great uncle so it was nice to stumble across this. He was a lovely man. He loved children and we loved him back.
It’s easy to see the farmer and hear the vernacular, and assume people are uneducated or unintelligent. I’d like people to know Murray was extremely intelligent and sensitive, in addition to hard working.