(Searsport, ME) To celebrate Mother's Day on May 8th, Left Bank Books in Searsport will welcome author (and mother) Glenna Johnson Smith as our fifth lyceum speaker on Sunday, May 8th from 3:30 to 5:00 pm. Mrs. Smith's new book entitled “Old Maine Woman,” features the 91 year old lady's eloquently humorous essays and short stories about the complexities, absurdities, and pleasures of everyday life in Maine. Raised in the 1920's and 30's in the small coastal Hancock County town of Ashville, Smith later married a farmer and moved up north where she had to learn to love life life under the big sky and among the rolling potato fields of Aroostook County. There she taught school and raised three fine sons, one of whom, Mr. Steve Smith, grew up to be a superb high school history teacher at Belfast Area High School.

Glenna Smith has a fine eye for life's small and intimately satisfying moments. Her writing style is understated and powerfully moving at times. Over the years her prose has appeared in Echoes and Yankee magazines, and the book includes several charming pieces of short fiction. Having reached her ninth decade with physical and mental powers intact, Mrs. Smith has a great deal of insight and wisdom to share about what really matters in life. Observing the inevitable squabbles between neighborhood children on her street (and how the appearance of just one mother on the scene to arbitrate and offer cookies and milk quickly puts things right), she muses, "Sometimes I wish the leaders of the world and the nation would sit down and listen while their mothers tell them to behave themselves and stop being selfish."

The lyceum will take place from 3:30 to 5:00 pm and the public is warmly invited to attend what promises to be a delightful talk from this distinguished lady of bright wit and common sense. For more information or to reserve a seat or a copy of her book, please call 548-6400. In addition to our customary refreshments, cookies and milk will be served in Glenna Smith's honor to make sure that we all play nice.

On Saturday, May 7th at 8:00 pm at Hannaford Hall at the University of Southern Maine

(Portland, ME) De Temps Antan is a high-energy trio featuring three of Quebec's most talented musicians coming out of the city's vibrant music scene. Since 2003, Éric Beaudry, André Brunet and Pierre-Luc Dupuis have been exploring and performing time-honored melodies from the stomping grounds of Quebec's musical past. Using fiddle, accordion, harmonica, guitar, bouzouki and a number of other instruments, these three virtuosos blend boundless energy with the unmistakable joie de vivre found only in traditional Quebec music.

Presented by Portland Ovations. To purchase tickets or for more information, please visit www.portlandovations.org.

Through Sunday, May 15th at The Public Theatre

(Lewiston, ME) How far will you go to please your parents? Convinced that her parents won’t approve of her gentile boyfriend, an eager-to-please daughter hires an actor to play the man of her mother’s dreams (he’s not a real doctor, but he’ll play one for a fee) until she can work up the nerve to tell them the truth. But when her parents fall in love with her new beau, can she remember not to do the same? Imagine My Big Fat Greek Wedding meets The Wedding Date with a little Fiddler on the Roof thrown in, and you’ve got this delightful Off-Broadway comedy.

For more information, please visit www.thepublictheatre.org.

On Friday, May 13th at 7:30 pm.

(Ellsworth, ME) Pam Baker, Maine’s Queen of the Blues, has been living, breathing and singing the blues for over 25 years. She’s done it all, from singing folk/pop songs with her acoustic guitar to fronting her band Blue Plate Special, one of Maine’s legendary blues bands, with whom she released her first CD, Bakin’ the Blues, in 1998.

Pam’s blues are inspired by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Sarah Vaughan and Etta James. In performance, Pam sometimes seems to channel the late Janis Joplin, whose “What Good Can Drinkin’ Do” graces The Blues Won’t Wait, and other legendary blueswomen like Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday. Pam has shared the stage with some of the best-known performers in contemporary blues, such as Marcia Ball, Bob Margolin, Debbie Davies, Tab Benoit, Elvin Bishop, Saffire and Duke Robillard.

A Pam Baker show is always an energetic good time, guaranteed to fill the house with great blues and the dance floor with happy feet!

For more information, please visit The Grand website.