A Quiet Courage

Book excerpt: Based on Paula Todd’s widely viewed television program Person to Person, an intimate biography show about human behaviour, A Quiet Courage shows us that it is often ordinary people who have something extraordinary to teach us. Todd explores the unique ways twelve fascinating men and women from around the world not only survive the unimaginable, but manage to thrive afterwards, including: an artist whose family is murdered; a sales clerk diagnosed with colon cancer who is given six months to live; an award-winning chef who is paralyzed in a car accident and is told he will never be able to cook again; a paramedic who suffers from critical incident stress disorder after discovering a murdered rape victim who closely resembles his fiancee; and a senior police officer who suffers clinical depression after investigating some of Canada’s most notorious murderers, including Paul Bernardo. A Quiet Courage is an inspirational book about overcoming the worst life has to offer, deriving strength from tragedy, and learning from the experience. These are revealing, compelling stories about the exceptional courage of everyday heroes.