Michael Parent: Words of Praise!

What Other People Have Said . . .

"Michael Parent is a unique blend of consummate professional, yet wonderfully approachable artist. Audiences of all ages loved him, as was evidenced by the standing ovation! Distractions fall away as Michael lures listeners into his tales and heart. Pure joy was the outcome of Michael's visit to our festival."

-- Teresa Clark, Director, Snake River Storytelling Festival

"[He] was almost a festival in himself. He played, sang in French and English, and juggled balls, rods, and what-nots as he simultaneously told the story of a down-and-out juggler. A magnificent voice, an inexhaustible fund of stories, wit, charm, a gift of mimicry..."

-- Layna Verin, U.C. Berkeley Daily Californian

"The storyteller, in the fullness of his craft, has struck, and the spell is on, as surely as it was when Homer conjured up a fleet of ships on a wine-dark sea bound for the walls of Troy."

-- Melvin Maddocks, TIME Magazine
To view the article, please click here.

“Although Michael Parent is alone on stage, the characters he creates through his stories fill the room.”

-- Kristin Langellier, University of Maine faculty, author of “Storytelling in Daily Life”

Michael, age 3

"The storyteller of the underdog."

--Ed Stivender

"I liked your story a lot. I think you are very funny and you have a great sense of humor. I would like to thank you for coming to our school and telling us the best story I ever heard.

--Your friend, Timmy." (age 9)

"That was a good story. I couldn't take my ears off it."

--Gabriel, age 6

"Humor, reality, imagination and wisdom all bumped up against each other in the form of your sensational tale, 'The King of the Playground' and the Ashland audience was enthralled."

--Perii Owen, Ashland (Oregon) Library

About Michael's Bilingual Programs

"He brings to his audiences a unique blend of storytelling and song, in both English and French. His French-Canadian heritage, bilingual upbringing and creative abilities enable him to bring to life a facet of North American culture that has been all but lost to many first and second generation Franco-Americans."
--Martha Pellerin-Drury
"As I watched the audience, consisting largely of the descendants of French-Canadian immigrants, respond to Michael's program, I felt that I was witnessing a true folk art. He created characters they knew, sang songs they could remember and gave new life to traditional forms of entertainment."
--Madge Manfred,
Mohegan College, Norwich, Ct.

Stephanie Fournier,
Michael's Grandmaman