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On January 22nd, I launched a fundraising campaign to support the production of a DVD of my solo show, Piecework: When We Were French. Yesterday marked the beginning of the campaign’s fourth week, and I’m excited to report that, with 22 days down, we’ve been able to raise 60% of our overall goal. This is…
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Today marks the beginning of my fourth week of fundraising to support the DVD production of my solo show, Piecework: When We Were French. In just three weeks, we have managed to raise $4,000, almost 60% of our overall goal. During these three weeks, I have been reflecting on the show’s creation, the themes and…
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Once I learned that Jack Kerouac was Franco-American, I wondered how I had never figured it out on my own: his boxy, square head and dark eyes; his clean part; his humor and his melancholy, intertwined; the alcoholism that killed him; his visionary uprootedness. Suddenly, knowing his origins in a Massachusetts mill town, Ti-Jean Kerouac,…
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We broke the $4,000 mark! On my fundraising journey, this is another milestone toward my $7,000 goal. We are now just $3,000 away (well, $2,995, to be exact) away from the amount needed to guarantee production of the Piecework: When We Were French DVD. The writing and creation of the show consisted of many hours…
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All this month I’m posting on topics related to Franco-American history and culture, in honor of my ongoing DVD fundraising campaign. Thus far, most of these posts have been light-hearted in tone, and why not? Franco-Americans are first-class revelers who enjoy a good party and a good song. But it must be acknowledged that the…
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If you’ve visited this site before, or if you’ve seen a performance of my solo show, Piecework: When We Were French, you no doubt know that the play was based on a series of interviews I conducted with Franco-Americans. The interview process was in no way exhaustive. It was meant to give me a sense…
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The second week of my online fundraising campaign comes to a close, and have I mentioned that in those two weeks we’ve managed to raise 50% of our overall goal? To date 50 generous funders have stepped forward to support the DVD production of Piecework: When We Were French. They are among the many people…
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During this month, I’ll continue to post on topics related to Franco-American history and culture, as I continue to my on-line fundraising campaign to support the DVD production of my solo show, Piecework: When We Were French. February is Black History Month, and to mark its beginning, I wanted to recommend a book that was…
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It’s a big day here at Abby Paige HQ. First, the Piecework: When We Were French DVD fundraising campaign rolls on, and just a couple of days into our second week, I am very happy to report that we have reached 50% of our overall goal. This is immensely encouraging! With 39 days remaining, we…
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If you’re unfamiliar with the history of French-Canadian immigration to the U.S., I highly recommend this very comprehensive article by Damien-Claude Bélanger of the University of Montreal and Claude Bélanger of Marianopolis College, also in Montreal. Entitled French Canadian Emigration to the United States, 1840-1930, the Bélangers’ paper explains the factors that often led immigrants…
