Talking Points with Raymond Lumsden

Your new book Stronger by the Day begins when you are sentenced to St. Cloud, a maximum-security adult prison at the age of 16. What was that for?

I was sentenced to 25 months in St. Cloud for two counts of felony burglary in the 3rd degree. This stemmed from a Country Club swimming pool and clubhouse break in. I was initially charged with 14 felonies; however, I plea-bargained down to just two counts.

The book chronicles your day-to-day struggle to survive as an underage inmate cohabitating with an adult population. How did you manage to survive such an existence?

I learned a lot from some of the other inmates who kept me under their radar, and taught me about prison culture. I learned how to make weapons, barter, trade, and make alliances with gang members. If you have never been to prison, it is difficult to comprehend, but prisons in the U.S. are like third world countries.

How did you cope with prison life?

Fear is ever present in prison, especially for a 16-year-old. I was tough, I knew how to live on the streets, and I had been in and out of juvenile facilities several times-yet, I was not prepared for being in constant fear for my life.

How did you find adjusting after you were released?

In other countries, when you leave your punishment is over, but here in the U.S., it's ongoing-it's a life long sentence. Felonies are forever-you carry that stigma with you always. You have to rebuild your life, and it's an ongoing process.

Your book gives glimpses into your childhood through flashbacks. Abandonment, physical and sexual abuse, poverty-how did you deal with all of these things?

People ask me that all the time, and my response is what choice did I have? If you are hungry, and there is no food, you are going to take vegetables from someone's garden, and you are going to take that spare change from inside a car. You do what you have to, or you do not survive, even if it means getting into trouble.

According to your book, you got into your fair share of trouble.

Yes, I did, I ended up in juvie facilities, and even escaped from one. How I ended up in them was doing what I had to do living on the streets with my brother after our parents left us behind waving goodbye to them on the driveway.

Did it ever get to be too much to take for you?

Absolutely, believe me, I thought of suicide as an option out and attempted it three times. In the end, I found my way, and the purpose for my life.

And that purpose led you to write this book.

Exactly. I felt compelled to educate and make aware the plight of kids who have been abused and neglected, and how our society turns its back on them. Abuse and neglect rewires a child's brain and conditions that child to resort to their own devices to survive.

Book Reviews

“One of the most difficult things a victim of child abuse must face is the guilt and shame.
Ray has courageously come out from behind his walls to let everyone see that abuse robs
a child of a real chance at life.”

– Amber Ellis, Alta Fay’s Allegiance, Running Mad

“Ray candidly reveals a life filled with more pain than any child should ever have to endure.
By showing us his emotional scars he is giving hope to millions of other kids who go to bed
hungry and those who must walk into a classroom and lie about where they got the bruises.”

– Marie Gilles, Domestic Violence: My Story

“This book is an important wake up call to everyone in our society who has dealings with a
child, either as a parent, caregiver, or educator. Ray Lumsden’s story not only deals with the
plight of abused children, but also the issue of juveniles charged and convicted as adults.”

– Marlin Keesler, Our Life on the Run:
A Story of running 50 marathons in 50 states: A family Quest

(Stronger by the Day by Raymond E. Lumsden; soft cover; 5½ x 8½; 296 pages; Lighthouse Publishing)

Click here to preview Stronger by the Day