BATH — Ida LeClair/Susan Poulin will be reading from and signing copies of her new self-help humor book, “Finding Your Inner Moose: Ida LeClair’s Guide to Livin’ the Good Life,” at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at Patten Free Library in Bath.

Poulin’s character Ida is a recently minted “Certified Maine Life Guide.” Ida is a lifelong resident of fictional Mahoosuc Mills, an impossible-to-find, but oh-so-familiar town in Western Maine, where she lives in a tidy and tastefully decorated double-wide with high school sweetheart Charlie and adorable dog Scamp. Most important, Ida is a daughter, sister, wife and best friend who draws upon her experiences – as well as those of the noble and majestic moose – to offer practical and hilarious advice on relationships, physical fitness, stress, housecleaning, work, shopping, fun and more. If you are looking for impractical, woo-woo advice from a glammed-up, over-educated, fancy-schmancy life coach, just keep looking.

In Poulin’s book readers will find sections such as: What Did I Do Wrong to Deserve This Turkey Gobbler Neck?; How Many Points in Cabbage Soup?; Feng Shui-ing the Double Wide; Slaying Energy Vampires; and Spousal Deafness. This book is 100 percent Ida, who, as her husband Charlie often says, “Just loves giving advice to people, whether they ask for it or not!”

Poulin, once selected by “Portland Magazine” as one of the “Ten Most Intriguing People in Maine,” created the character Ida LeClair in 1997. Poulin has been a leader in bringing a female voice to New England storytelling and humor, a genre historically dominated by men such as “Bert and I” and Tim Sample. Poulin has produced five stage shows featuring Ida: “Ida: Woman Who Runs with the Moose,” “Ida’s Havin’ a Yard Sale,” “A Very Ida Christmas,” “The Moose in Me, the Moose in You,” and her latest, “I Married an Alien.”

Patten Free Library is located at 33 Summer Street. For more information, email lmortimer@patten.lib.me.us. The program is free and open to the public.

Copy the Story Link