Michael Parent

PORTLAND – Internationally-known storyteller Michael Parent died on May 5, 2023 in Portland. He performed throughout North America, Europe, and New Zealand, and received the 1999 Circle of Excellence ORACLE Award – the storytelling Oscar. During two decades in Charlottesville, Va., he co-founded the Fall Festival of Tales and the Live Arts Theater.

Born in Lewiston on April 27, 1946, he had a lifelong love of hockey. He was goalie for the St. Dominic Academy hockey team when they became 1964 New England Champions at Boston Garden, and played with the Greater Portland Oldtimers Hockey League into his 70s.

He is survived by his longtime companion, Katy Rydell; brother, Norman Parent and extended family; childhood buddy, Phil Cloutier; ex-wife, Jeanne van Gemert; stepchildren Michael Lucy and Cybele Maness; and grandchildren Jolie and Zadie Maness; plus many friends and fans.

Michael asked to be remembered this way: “He did the best he could. He loved people and enjoyed being alive.”

An in-person and live-streamed memorial is scheduled for Sunday, July 16 in Portland – time and place to be announced in Michael’s obituary as it appears on the Advantage Funeral and Cremation Services of Portland website.