Book launch of “Why Should Guys Have All the Fun?” is scheduled tomorrow
By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
Filipino-American philanthropist, CEO and civic leader Loida Lewis will launch today her memoir to bring to the world an inspiring and uplifting story of how an ordinary person can rise to achieve extraordinary things.
Loida Lewis is Chair and CEO of TLC Beatrice, LLC, a family investment firm and she holds the distinction of being the first Asian American woman to own a billion-dollar enterprise.
Her book “Why Should Guys Have All the Fun?” is described as a literary offspring of Crazy Rich Asians and a Greek tragedy.
It is a story of a resolute immigration lawyer and activist and begins with her adventure-packed Philippine upbringing.
“A torrid love affair with brilliant, irascible financier Reginald Lewis follows, as does regal living in Manhattan and Paris, and gut-wrenching loss, all before she shockingly commandeers a multibillion-dollar, multinational conglomerate and leads it with aplomb,” a promo for her book reads.
“You’ll learn how she dealt with her husband’s untimely death at the age of 50 and how she managed to raise two independent daughters even as she shepherded a multinational corporation to record earnings,” it added.
She will hold a book signing with her co-author, Blair S. Walker, at Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue – 555 Fifth Ave. across the Philippine Consulate from 1:00pm to 3:00pm tomorrow, March 28.
A 2nd book signing with will be held at Barnes & Noble Tribeca – 97 Warren St., at 6:00pm.
An attorney by profession, admitted to practice in the Philippines and New York, Lewis was the first Asian and Filipino woman to pass the New York bar without having studied law in the United States, her biography reads.
“After serving 10 years as General Attorney in the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (currently U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services), and having won her discrimination case against INS in 1979, Mrs. Lewis co-authored “How to Get A Green Card”, now on its 14th edition,” it added.
Her memoir that will be released tomorrow takes us to her beginnings in the Philippines at the height of World War II, when Japanese forces occupied the country.
She shares her journey from a joyful upbringing with her well-to-do family, to a serendipitous blind date in the city that never sleeps, and eventually, to leading a billion-dollar business empire after the untimely death of her husband.
The memoir will also include her passionate love story with a young African American lawyer in New York City, the brilliant and tenacious Reginald F. Lewis, who went on to become the first Black billion–dollar dealmaker.
“A fascinating and engaging true story that makes you keep turning the pages to read more, Mrs. Lewis shares her own personal journey as a daughter, wife, mother, immigration lawyer, philanthropist, CEO and civic leader. Her book earns a place in the libraries of people looking to achieve extraordinary things by following their heart, leading with love, and taking charge of their own destiny,” the promo for her book also reads.