EVERY OUNCE OF COURAGE
A Daughter’s Reflections On Her Mother’s Bravery
Elizabeth Ann Besa-Quirino
BLURB
It began with an unexpected phone call and a startling statement: “You don’t know me, but your mother saved my life.”
The late-night conversation with an American World War II veteran revealed to Elizabeth Ann Besa Quirino the untold stories of her mother’s remarkable wartime heroism and sparked a twenty-year journey of discovery about her lifelong acts of bravery and compassion.
Lourdes “Lulu” Reyes Besa channeled the heartbreak of a childhood tragedy into a profound sense of compassion and service. She helped raise three brothers while still a child herself in the early years of the 20th century. Then, as a young socialite in the heydays of 1930s Manila, she focused on meaningful philanthropy and charity work. During the merciless Japanese occupation of the Philippines, Lulu embarked unflinchingly on dangerous missions to bring aid and comfort that meant the difference between life and death to countless Filipino and American prisoners of war. She continued to face personal grief and adversity in the later decades of her life but met each challenge as before – with every ounce of courage, fortitude, and grace.
Elizabeth Ann delved into a trove of old letters, photographs, and recipes in search of the source of her mother’s courageous spirit. In Lulu’s story, she found a complex life full of joy, sorrow, selflessness, and survival, and learned precious lessons about how the timeless bonds of family, the steadfast strength of faith, and the power of an indomitable will can provide solace and sense in a world of uncertainty. Every Ounce of Courage by Elizabeth Ann Besa-Quirino is Now Available on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble online bookstores.
ABOUT BETTY ANN
Elizabeth Ann Besa-Quirino is a cookbook author, an award-winning journalist, a food writer, a correspondent, a previous college professor, and a former ad agency copywriter/creative director. She blogs and develops recipes about Filipino home cooking on her popular website The Quirino Kitchen (thequirinokitchen.com)
She is a multi-award winner of the Plaridel Writing Awards for excellence in journalism, given by the Philippine-American Press Club in San Francisco, California, and is the recipient of a Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Award for her essay, “A HundredMangoes in A Bottle.” She was named one of the FWN Filipina Women’s Network 100 Most Influential Women of the World.
Follow her on:
Website – The Quirino Kitchen
Facebook – Asian In America Filipino Food
Twitter – @BettyAnnQuirino
Instagram – @bettyannquirino
REVIEW
When a book educates you, makes you cry, and provides you valuable resources you can apply to daily life, you have yourself one for the keeper shelf. Every Ounce of Courage is a one-of-a-kind book that defies genre definitions. Part memoir, part historical drama, and part cookbook, it’s a totally engaging read.
Lulu Reyes Besa was never mentioned in any Filipino history books I ever read when I was a student in the Philippines. It was a terrible injustice for her and thousands of women who were never recognized for their heroic deeds. I am immensely grateful to Betty Ann Quirino for bringing her mother’s story to light. This book should be in libraries and schools in the Philippines to introduce an inspiring historical figure to the youth, especially young women, and to stir their emotions about the ravages of war that no textbook could ever accomplish.
For me, the aspects of this book that touched me the most were the food memories. Reading Betty Ann’s reminiscing about her mom’s, sister’s, and godmother’s cooking made me remember my own experiences of watching my Nanay Maring and my dad and titos cook during fiestas and special occasions. Those chapters made me smile most often and cry the hardest.
With its celebration of history, food, and family, Every Ounce of Courage is the perfect read during Filipino American History Month and every month.
Maida Malby 