The Franco-American Collection at the University of Southern Maine invites you to a book launch with Denis Ledoux for his new book, Here To Stay/Lives in 17th Century Canada. Join us at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston campus, 51 Westminster St. in Lewiston, room 170, on October 15, 2025 at 6:30 pm for the event. There is no fee for our programs, made possible by the generous sponsorship of the Québec Delegation in Boston and TV5MONDE, Hilton Garden Inn Auburn Riverwatch and Schooner Estates.
Denis Ledoux is known for writing his family stories (his mother’s, We Were Not
Spoiled/A Franco-American Memoir; his spouse’s, A Sugary Frosting/Life in a New England Parsonage; and his own, French Boy/A 1950s Franco-American Childhood). He has now taken his family writing into the far past with Here to Stay/Lives in 17th Century Canada. In this latest book, he writes of four early family members from the 1660s, and by placing them in a carefully delineated historical context, has created a glimpse into the first century of French Canada as our ancestors struggled against odds to maintain a foothold on the continent. Here to Stay is a book filled with heroic effort, profound tragedy and perilous survival. “They were not like us," he concludes. “They were epic heroes!”
Denis Ledoux holds a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Education. He has taught Franco studies at the university level and has been a guest lecturer at numerous colleges and universities on the subjects of cultural diversity and Franco North American culture and history.
As a short story writer, he drew on family characters, settings, and stories for his fiction. In 1990, he won the Maine Fiction Award for Mountain Dance & Other Stories. His other titles include What Became of Them and Other Stories from Franco-America, and Lives in Translation: An Anthology of Contemporary Franco-American Writings, which he edited. Denis' short fiction has twice been honored with the Maine Writing Fellowship Award (1991, 1996), an National Education Association-based merit award. Ledoux has also served as a Maine Touring Artist for the Maine Arts Commission, leading programs on creative writing, personal history preservation, the history of immigration in New England, and Franco-American culture. In 1996, Denis was named Lifewriting Professional of the Year by the Association of Personal Historians. He directs The Memoir Network, an international group of lifewriting teachers and writers. His books are available through The Memoir Network, 95 Gould Road, Lisbon Falls, Maine 04252, through Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 9AM-5PM ET or by calling 207-353-5454. For more information, email:
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Unable to join us in-person? Here’s a link to register to attend on Zoom:
https://maine.zoom.us/meeting/register/JITw6mWCQaCUDVPIG8Ki5w
For more information or to register, contact the FAC archivist, Anna Faherty at
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