THE COVER OF YOUNG NEIL

As a first-time author, I was fascinated to watch Young Neil go through the long process from manuscript to finished book. ECW Press did a great job with the design and physical production of the book, and I thought readers might like to know a little more about the front cover.

Three images were initially considered for the cover. Designer Gregg Kulick (who also designed the jacket of Waging Heavy Peace, Neil's first memoir) favoured the photograph that was finally selected. Scott Young used the same photo in Neil and Me, published by McClelland & Stewart in 1984, and I received permission from the Trent University Archives to use it for Young Neil: The Sugar Mountain Years.

Harold Whyte took the photo of Neil in August 1950 in Omemee. The then nineteen-year-old Whyte was on his first out-of-town photographic assignment for the Toronto Telegram. A similar photo from the same session, showing Neil gazing in a different direction, is included in the Archives Book of the The Neil Young Archives (Volume 1). Neil loved fishing at theis point in his life, and Whyte captured him perfectly, standing with his fishing pole on a bucolic wooden bridge that spans the sunny Pigeon River.

Now in his early eighties, Harold Whyte is still actively engaged in his photography career and other pursuits.

Postscript, October 27, 2014 -- Harold Whyte passed away on August 31, 2014. A memorial service will be held for him in the spring.