My Substitute Fathers

Abstract Legrand explains his need, as a young man, for older male friends who are mentors and advisers, “at once a big brother and a substitute father.” The first man to fill this void is the poet, singer, and composer Francis Lemarque, who helps fund The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. The second we have already read about: Jacques Canetti, head of the Philips record company. The third is the poet Louis Aragon, “a monumental figure in French literature,” whose books Legrand has loved since his teenage years. In 1976, after twelve years of friendship, Legrand and Aragon agree to work on a symphonic project together, with the poet writing the libretto. But Aragon is too busy to write a single line, and when he dies in 1982, Legrand mourns not only the man but the death of that project. Legrand then discusses his inaptitude as a teacher, and his desire to be a better father to his children than his own father was to him.