Lost in Translation – Part 2

Tell Us Something

Our first storyteller is Ben Catton, a tall man in Chile who tries to connect with a Deaf grandmother, culminating in the around a parakeet cage. Ben calls his story “Periquitos”

📷Donal Lakatua

Ben Catton is Missoula born and raised but spent the majority of his adult life elsewhere, orbiting to Wyoming, Idaho, Wisconsin, Alaska, and Chile. In the midst of those orbits, he studied at the University of Montana to become a teacher and he has taught high school English and Spanish. Currently, he’s pursuing a Masters degree in Public Administration and is back at UM. He and his wife Jessie are doing their best to raise two kiddos to be silly, adventurous, kind, and curious.

Next up is Ren Parker loves slow travel. She prefers buses and trains and one day finds herself on a train to Cambodia whose tracks end just across the border. Ren calls her story “Slow Travel”.

📷Donal Lakatua

Ren Parker grew up in Hawaii and lived on sailboats she restored on the Pacific for seven years. She gave up her nomadic ways and moved back to Missoula three years ago to be close to family and has been growing roots here ever since. Ren loves to dance and hike with her faithful dog, Poet. And spend time with her remarkable Missoula friends. She found her passion for storytelling this winter in a weekly open mic, Word Dog.

Next up is Abe Kurien shares his story of woe in which his Indian father mistakenly puts “Sugar Daddy” on the back of his van, thinking it means “one who gives candy to loved ones.” Abe calls his story “Middle East meets the Midwest.”

📷Donal Lakatua

Abe is married to his best friend and beautiful wife Bonnie who was the American Sign Language interpreter when Abe performed his story.They have 4 children and 2 grandchildren. He has lived in Montana for the last 24 years after moving here from outside of Chicago, Illinois.Abe has worked for over 30 years in the Film and Television industry. For over 10 years he has been the camera operator for Griz and Cats football games for the broadcasts on ROOT Sports, KPAX with Scripps Sports and the playoffs on ESPN. He also worked on the TV shows 1883, 1923 and currently working as the [day lees] Coordinator for the show Yellowstone which is shot right here in Missoula, Montana. His motto is Keep Smiling and his goal is to leave everyone with a smile on their face after meeting them!

Closing out this episode of the podcast, Linda Grinde shares her story about a time she was Lost in translation: Invited to a disco by French speakers, and ended up breaking into her own hostel to get back! Linda calls her story “Dancer in a Strange Land or Disco Damsel in Distress”.

📷Donal Lakatua

Linda Grinde keeps trying to reinvent herself but just keeps coming back to another version of theater. She recently appeared in an multi-media memory piece – Intangible Objects – at the Westside Theater. Originally from New Jersey, she has a Master’s degree in theater and has danced professionally in New York and Germany, acted in and directed plays in London, Seattle, Dallas, Hawaii and all around Montana. Linda will be traveling to Thailand next year to, you guessed it, teach theater. “Thank you Marc and Tell Us Something for this chance to share a small chapter of my life.”