Michel Parent: Raconteur Franco-Americain

"There was a treasure trove available to me in my relatives and parents and inside myself," states Michel Parent, whose stories, songs and plays in French/English are designed for people, especially children, who are not French or were not brought up familiar with their own French heritage.

"It's a way of touching the past and pointing toward the future," he explains. "Our work has to acknowledge our past."

Michel's (Michael's) past is parents whose job it was to survive and provide for their family. In the process the Lewiston native was directed away from his roots and integrated into the Anglo side of Maine. He became a schoolteacher, but by the late 70's he was asking himself, "What is wrong with me? I've had every opportunity to keep my culture alive" He spent two months in Quebec and started his career singing and telling stories, often based on memories of childhood songs.

"As Franco-Americans," he explains, "often we have kept our baggage in front of our faces." Since the 1980s, Michael has worked through that baggage productively. One result is the CD, Chantons — Let's Sing in French and English, a presentation of sing-able sing-a-long English translations for his favorite French songs, accompanied by well known fiddler, musician, and Lewiston public school string teacher, Franco-American Greg Boardman. According to Michael "they are tiny doors into the Franco-American culture.

Another of Michael's productions, is the solo one-act play, One More Thing, about the immigrant experience of Mill Worker Jean-Paul Boisvert as he tells his story of work, family, love, mortality and the Red Sox.

To learn more about Michael Parent call 879-0401, write to MichaelParent@maine.rr.com, or visit www.michaelparent.com.

Monter sur un elephant

by Michael Parent

Monter sur un elephant, c'est haut, c'est haut.
Monter sur un elephant, c'est haut, c'est effrayant.
To climb on an elephant, it's high, it's high.
To climb on an elephant, it's high, you get terrified.

Monter sur deux elephants...(That's two)

Monter sur trois elephants...(Three elephants)

How about five elephants?
Monter sur cinq elephants...

How about a thousand elephants?
Monter sur mille elephants...

Monter sur un crocodile, c'est bas, c'est bas.
Monter sur un crocodile, c'est bas, e'est imbecile.
To climb on a crocodile, it's low, it's low.
To climb on a crocodile, it's stupid, don't you know.

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Michel Parent: Raconteur Franco-Americain

Monter sur un elephant