Emil B. Justimbaste was born in an interior and mountainous part of Leyte where his father was an elementary teacher about 69 years ago. In his early childhood, he grew up in an ancient convent where he served as an altar boy of his priest uncle. In high school he entered the seminary, but later found that priesthood was not for him. It was during this period that he started writing poetry. In college, he graduated to writing essays and short stories as he got involved in student activism. He later dropped out of school to concentrate on youth activism, going underground in the early years of martial law, and then was detained in Fort Bonifacio.
Interest in history writing came much later when he wrote the history of his alma mater about 20 years ago. The first major project was on the 500 years of Leyte's evangelization following the alma mater job. It was a collaborative effort involving other former seminarians, depicting the work of Jesuit missionaries in 16th century Leyte.
" Leon Kilat and the Untold Story of Cebu's Revolution" was first serialized in a Cebu daily in 1998, then published as a book only in 2016. A brief history of Ormoc, entitled "Ogmuc," is circulating freely in digital format. The book "Heroes, Brigands, Spies," published in print also last year, was started in 2004 yet and finished in 2010. This was followed by "Lukban, the Philippine American War in Samar, 1899 ? 1902," which was started soon after "Heroes." It is still in digital form, like "The Roots of Our Faith," an introductory tome about the history of the Palo (Leyte) archdiocese. The author is currently working on The Pulahan Revolts in Leyte and Samar, a continuing story about the rebellion in the two islands in the early years of the American occupation.