Lowell History: Michael Largay and Alentour

Michael William Largay (February 5, 1911- April 20, 1991)

Michael Largay was the son of French Canadian immigrants. He attended Lowell High School and was president of his class, graduating in 1932. He won first prize in a public speaking contest for an essay entitled "The Immigrant - Is He a Menace?" which he presented in the Cyrus W. Irish auditorium. He contracted Tuberculosis as a young man and was a patient at Westfield Massachusetts Sanatorium. He wrote a story inspired by the experience entitled, The Foe of Youth. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, while living in Lowell, Largay launched "Alentour House" which published limited edition books of poetry as well as Alentour, A National Magazine of Poetry that he helped design, contributed to, and for which he hand-set the type.  Largay left Lowell for Southern California in the mid 1940s where he married his second wife Eleanor Muse. They had one son, Michael Largay Jr.. Over the years Largay's poetry appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the Herald-Examier. He won several awards for his poetry including the World of Poetry Contest Award of Merit for "WILLPOWER" in 1982. Largay suffered from diabetes and heart disease and died in Palm Springs California in 1991.