Glenn Langohr Speaks Out About the California Prison Hunger Strike

Glenn Langohr Speaks Out About the California Prison Hunger Strike.

The Prisons I lived in for 10 years couldn't contain me! I wrote books that shine a light on life behind bars. Check out FREE samples of the Audio Books here~ http://amzn.to/19dNrsm All my books are available in Print or Kindle for immediate download. God Bless You!

Glenn Langohr's Front Page Story in the Orange County Register About Prison Life and His Books

Former inmate looks to write new life

Glenn Langohr’s novels about prison life are part fiction, part autobiography – and he’s pinned his hopes for the future on them.

By GREG HARDESTY / ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SAN CLEMENTE – Biceps bulging under a black T-shirt, the man who says he was once one of South County's biggest speed dealers assumes the position.

Head down, hands on floor, Glenn Langohr raises his legs into the air as if he were doing a handstand with his feet against the wall.

Then he begins his routine.

Pump ... pump ... pump ...

Each handstand push-up is as fluid and forceful as the last.

Langohr learned to do this in prison. In a 10-foot prison cell, there was barely enough room to do even these space-efficient push-ups effectively. But here, on the back porch of his brother's ocean-view pad in San Clemente, he has all the room in the world.

Pump ... pump ... pump ...

Langohr, 42, has spent 10½ years – roughly a quarter of his life – in prison, the result of drug-related convictions. About four of his prison years, he says, were spent in solitary confinement.

All that alone time may explain Langohr's unbridled desire to talk and talk – and talk some more – about his past, and to tout what he hopes will be his new calling as a writer of slightly fictionalized accounts of his experiences in prison.

He has written eight books. He has been invited to speak before criminal justice classes at colleges.

He has the makings of a life.

Pump ... pump ... pu-

Now, the questions for Langohr are these: Will he screw it up? Can a man whose life has been as upside-down as it is during this workout keep himself upright long enough to stay out of prison?

•••

You expect a battle-scarred ex-con to be covered in tattoos, but Langohr has none.

And you expect his self-published books to be chores to read, but they aren't.

The writing and editing is sloppy; the first sentence in one Langohr book includes two typos. But Langohr also has an eye for compelling detail.

In the most recent of his Prison Killers series, Langohr writes about being one of two white inmates who get mixed up in a riot between rival Mexican gangs at the California State Prison in Solano.

I walked to the trash can against the wall and pulled back the plastic trash bag and dug my hand down the edge of it. I felt what I was looking for: a sock with a can of beans in it ...

A few paragraphs later, he adds:

I whipped my can of beans at the tsunami of rushing inmates ... punches from all sides were landing and I heard them cracking the side of my head and face.

Is it true?

Maybe.

Langohr says his writing paints "true colors of life on a fictional landscape."

He sticks to what he knows and delivers, at times, raw stuff – and he isn't shy about word count. His first book, "Roll Call" (2010), is 732 pages.

Of the aftermath of the riot, Langohr writes of a wounded inmate:

I counted six stab wounds and again wondered who had the weapon. The stab wounds started at the lower stomach and climbed up the chest. They were clean lines about an inch and a half long. Whatever weapon was used was a good one.

The inmate later died.

•••

In America, a country with about 2.3 million adults behind bars, Langohr's story is so old and so routine that it's cliché: Boy gets into drugs, gets in trouble with the law, goes to prison, finds God, gets sober.

Only the wished-for final step – turns his life around – remains in doubt.

Sitting on his brother's balcony, storm clouds massing, Langohr dishes openly about his troubled life, although he requests some details be kept private to protect family members.

Langohr, who rents a room in a home in San Clemente and is separated from his wife, grew up in the Lake Forest area.

A child of divorce, he was young when he started to rebel.

At 12, he ran away. By 15, he was selling pot supplied to him by a Mexican smuggler. By 18 he was serving his first stint in jail. When he got out he resumed dealing drugs, this time speed, and became, by his telling, one of the busiest amphetamine dealers in South Orange County.

He also became an addict.

Langohr started his first stint in state prison in 1991. He served 16 months in Chino. When he got out he went back to dealing. He needed the money, he says, and he was either uninterested in or unable to generate legal income.

It wasn't until after getting out of prison for a third time, in 1999, that Langohr took his first shot at cleaning up his life – quitting drugs and finding legitimate work. He'd just spent a stint in prison that included a long stretch in solitary, where he read a lot and began to write, and he felt he was ready for a change.

He succeeded, for a bit, but a bad romantic split and the dissolution of a limousine business he'd started torpedoed his spirit. Soon, the self-described "genius moron" was back to using and dealing drugs, a combination that soon landed him in prison for a fourth time.

Now, once again a free man, Langohr is pinning his future on a career of letters.

He makes some money from sales on Kindle and audio books he narrates, and also from a part-time restaurant job.

•••

More than spinning slightly shaded accounts of his decade-plus in prison, Langohr hopes to inspire other inmates to write as a form of self-therapy – for redemption, self-respect.

He also wants to send a message to politicians and the judicial system: California's strained prison system is a mess.

"By locking up low-level drug offenders, we're breeding bigger criminals," says Langohr, who advocates drug court and other diversionary programs for most addicts. He knows how prisons can fall abysmally short of rehabilitating offenders and, in many cases, perform the opposite:

Create monsters.

He says writing and reading helped keep him sane when he was behind bars.

He says never joined a prison gang – one explanation for his lack of tattoos. Langohr survived, he says, by ending up on the winning side of many fights – and by using his wits.

"My reputation preceded me," says Langohr, who as a drug dealer rubbed shoulders with Mexican mobsters. "Perception is reality in prison. And your brain plays a big part in surviving."

So does writing, he adds. And knocking out push-ups.

Especially when life is upside-down.

Check Out This Ad For Prison Riot, A True Crime Story of Surviving a Gang War in Prison (Prison Killers – Book 5) by Glenn Langohr

about his book: Lock Up Abroad contacted me to be on their show this year as they focus on Prison Life in the U.S. They want me to be in one of the final episodes to end with a redemptive theme. While being interviewed they asked me, “How much of your books are fiction?” I told them, “Society can’t handle all of the truth!” With this in mind, I wrote Prison Riot.

Prison Riot is a true crime memoir where BJ, a young and battle tested inmate serving time on drug charges, gets caught up in a Mexican gang war over gangland tattoos. The prison explodes into chaos as each building erupts in deadly violence. For BJ, the war isn’t over when he and over a hundred inmates get housed in solitary confinement, it’s just beginning. For getting involved, he’s labeled a southern Mexican gangster.

• “Wow! I read this book in one sitting, I couldn’t put it down. The way Mr. Langhor writes this book, made me feel like I was in that cell woth B.J. and Giant, I actually felt claustrophobic and trapped and could almost feel the pepper spray burning me.” — MSMAD 2009

• “I am reading all of this authors books and this one is incredible. I can’t even imagine having to survive through what this guy has lived through. Prison war riot, Solitary confinement, respect, pride, survival. Forget reality TV, this is much better, it is reality!” — JDOG

To check out all 8 of Glenn Langohr’s prison books in print, kindle or audio book ( Listen for a free sample ) go here http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00571NY5A

That Girl Reads Interviews Ex-Con Turned Best Selling Author Glenn Langohr

TGR: Which actor would you want to portray you if your books were turned into movies?   For more, check out her site!   http://thatgirlreads.blogspot.com/2013/01/author-interview-glenn-langohr.html 

Check Out This Interview: From Ex-Con To Best Selling Author

Check Out This Interview: From Ex-Con To Best Selling Author http://www.authorscourtwithme.blogspot.co.uk

Glenn T Langohr - Ex-con to Best Seller Author Life Story Book Interview

Interview Highlight 

 

I'm honored and thrilled to be interviewing Glenn Langohr author of Roll Call, Upon Release From Prison, Race Riot, Lock Up Diaries, Gladiator, Underdog, Prison Riot and Pelican Bay Riot, on I Am Darmie Orem and Authors' Curtilage with Darmie Orem.

Welcome Langohr.

“Thank you, Darmie.”

Langohr, 42, has spent 10 1/2. Years -   approximately a quarter of his life - in prison, the result of drug - related convictions which has evoked his desire to write and write and write some more about the story of his life after he found God and a calling as a writer.

The salvation found well-built author ran away at 12. By 15, he was selling pot supplied to him by Mexican Smuggler. By 18 he was serving his first hold in jail. When he got out he resumed dealing drugs, this time he became one of the busiest amphetamine dealers in South Orange County and also became addict.

Langohr in all has written eight books. He has been invited to speak before criminal justice classes at colleges.

His most recent book Underdog, a crime thriller true story opened with: Sergeant Torrez crowding the convicts’ cell door with a smirk on his face with six IGI Gooners behind him.

Glenn as the character Bj in the book said, they called the inmate Gang Investigators Gooners because they wore similar uniforms to the regular prison guards and had additional black stitching on their shoulders and chest that resembled tattoos to signify they were in charge of deciphering; who the gangsters were, usually was based on their tattoos...

Using the experiences of one's life and transforming them into fiction can be a great challenge. Langohr, how were you able to pull this off?

“I use the true colors of life and paint on a fictional landscape to protect the innocent and the not so innocent. “

From the opening of Underdog one could see that the story is tight and compelling. Did you have some sort of writing courses during your years behind bars?

“No. That is what we need to do as a society. Help prisoners get instructional writing guides and more learning power. What I did is pray and read the Bible every day. I also read everything else I could get my hands on. God answered my prayers and led me to write. Out of the blue, I got a letter from a Pastor by the name of David Hocking from the church, Hope For Today. From that point on I communicated with him and he sent me information on how to publish books and make movies. That lit a fire of encouragement inside of me and I kept on writing with new vigor.”

Obviously, you consider your life as some big book and ain't ashamed to go on talking about it. Why did you use life as novels?

“I wanted to change the destructive path I was on. When I ran away from a divorced family at the age of 12, I was hurt emotionally and had to find a way to soothe the pain. The streets and the drug world was an exciting distraction at first but always ends with prison, insanity or a coffin. I will use a quote from my novel Roll Call to make the point. "Sow a bad thought and reap an action. Sow an action and reap a habit. Sow a habit and reap a character. Sow a character and reap a destiny." I wanted to open up people's eyes that God can turn any life around, even those that society has cast aside as the worst of the worst. It all starts with changing your thoughts.”

When did you first get down events in your life on the paper? Did you start by keeping a journal or simply started writing it as a book?

“I started writing from a prison cell in solitary confinement with the hope that I could write a novel about the drug war that would turn into a movie or TV series. I woke up at 4 AM and wrote sporadically all day and night. ”

How did you act when it occurred to you that you could turn your life experiences into books? Or was it somebody that opened your eyes that you could do that?

“After a year of writing I saw the light. I knew the content I was writing about was destined to be read and understood. I got excited and started pacing the length of the cell back and forth and it helped me think even deeper.”

What's the central conflict of the novel Underdog?

“In California and other prisons in the U.S, prison tattoos on inmates are being used as evidence to classify prisoners to solitary confinement where they don't get to see the sun ever again. While I was in prison the Criminal Justice system sent way to many people to prison for drug crimes. That filled the prisons up to double their capacities. It made prison a more violent place and a bigger breeding ground for gangs. It was harder and harder to keep the peace and disputes arose over who could use things like tables, work out bars and showers. More and more riots happened. I was involved in a few that I did everything I could to avoid. When I went to the hole, solitary confinement, I saw first hand how the prison was falsely labeling prisoners as bad influencers based on their tattoos. I published Underdog one day after a prisoner died in a hunger strike over the same issues. “

You've been quite creative in transforming your life experiences into books. Any tips for those willing to also put out their life stories?

“Write every day until you are waking up before everyone else. Write before you get distracted! Don't worry about it being perfect or you will never get started. Keep in mind that you have to develop conflict and characters early. Always remember that any script must have a beginning, middle and end. So break it into those pieces and it will come together eventually. Know that you have to rewrite the script many times so the first time don't hold back. You can cut pieces out later. Just do it.”

Is there any word of advice for strayed children doing drugs?

“Don't do it! God is so amazing and He made us in His image. Drugs are poison and pollute the brain and worse, they stain the very soul. You only have one brain, one soul and one body, treat yourself like a Holy temple for God. If you are a child who is lost, ask for help! Go to all the churches and boldly tell them your problems. If nobody is helping you, don't worry. God will! While you are suffering, look at it as an opportunity to help other people who are suffering and you won't be suffering as much!”

Now that you are reborn again into a clean path, what sort of man would you describe yourself?

“I used to have to work out for 4 hours a day to deal with life and feel good. I found a way better way. If you sing worship songs to the Lord you feel the same way and get even better looking at the same time! It's true; singing makes your cheek bones more beautiful. The older and wiser I get, the more I realize I need God to direct my path.”

Are there any life's failures which could make you go back to your old ways?

“There is no way! I'm still hyper sensitive and all the same pains and temptations still exist, but I don't want to lose this connection I have with God. The Bible has proven itself to be the Holy Word of God by how many prophecies have been fulfilled. With that said, I believe the end is near and all this craziness is the last gasp of a fallen world. I want to be about God's Kingdom, not the devils.”

Please provide links to your Website/blog, your social media profiles, and links to purchase your book (s).

“Here are links to all my books in the U.S. in print and kindle”

Books in Print and in Kindle 

Kindle 

Books in Audio 

 Glenn's Friends' Facebook Page

Facebook Fan Page 

Glenn's Google Site 

His Wordpress Site 

Besides turning your life story into books, do you have plans of selling them to filmmakers for movie adaptation? I think you should contact FeatureWorld and see what they have to offer you if you've got any plans like that. Or you market all your stories at TVFilmRights

TV film rights is the Film, Television, and Publishing Industry's premiere online source for selling different kinds of scripts. There are always producers scouting movie ideas and screenplays on the site.

“Thanks for the links to sell the stories to the movies!”

Have you read through Glenn T Langohr interview? What do you think of him? Don't you think he's a product of grace everyone should reckon with? Feel free to submit questions for him at his email address and he will reply them promptly.

Once again Glenn, I'm honored and thrilled to have you stop by at my blogs.

“The pleasure is all my. Thank you, Darmie.”

PRISONERS FAMILIES VOICES UK: Prison is a waste of money? - By Jan

PRISONERS FAMILIES VOICES UK: Prison is a waste of money? - By Jan: Festive greetings! I don't have a loved one in prison but I take an interest in the criminal justice system so hope you don't mind me con... This is a great point. It is good to see regular citizens who recognize that prisons are not serving their intended purpose, to rehabilitate!

Glenn Langohr: The Path Into Solitary Confinement in Prison is Wide and the Path Out is Narrow

Glenn Langohr: The Path Into Solitary Confinement in Prison is Wide and the Path Out is Narrow. Glenn Langohr spent over 10 years in some of California's worst prisons on drug charges, with 4 years in solitary before turning it into research as a writer and expert on prison culture. For a complete list of his drug war and prison thrillers in audio go here- http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=glenn+langohr%27s+audio+books You can also download the books to your phone, tablet or computer in minutes for free and buy them in print as well here- http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00571NY5A

"The path into solitary confinement is wide for this reason. We have to many laws and send to many people to prison these days. It used to be, in the 1980's, that you only went to prison for murder, rape and robbery for the most part. Tough on crime political platforms and the drug war took over and now we are paying the price with a prison population that is exploding at the seams.

To expand further, now that we send people to prison for poverty crimes like stealing to survive "Petty theft", and not being able to pay for probationary costs, and for being addicted to drugs, we have an overburdened prison system that frankly, has a lot of mental issues. Imagine being in prison as a drug addict or an orphan of poverty, on a packed prison yard, where the inmates are comprised of every race, color and creed. Now mix in hundreds of different street gangs and some predators. But please don't forget to add in a percentage of outright mental cases. Add all of that up and you have a recipe for violence, the slippery slope into solitary. This is where you have to look deeper. As an inmate trying to fit in, and avoid that violence in a predatory environment, one of the easiest masks to put on is in the form of tattoos. Human beings often enter the prison system as innocent, young drug addicts, and out of fear, try to fit in by blasting their bodies with ink to look formidable. This is the main reason that the path out of solitary is narrow. Since the path into solitary confinement and the path out aren't regulated by a court of law, dubious evidence is used that has to do with certain tattoos meaning certain things. Other dubious evidence is second hand information from other prisoners, and the one that hurts my heart the most, self admission.

What most people don't understand is that as a new arrival to a prison, the prison administration has to run a check to clear the inmate for mainline population on the "Big Yard". During this process the inmate is under the microscope like an insect under a magnifying glass. He or she is asked questions like, 'What gang do you run with? What do they call you? Do you have any enemies?' These questions make a new inmate feel like joining a gang is the answer! A great percentage of lost misfits pass the tipping point and claim something. In my case being a White inmate they asked, 'Are you a peckerwood or skin head?' I saw the verbal bait on a hook and responded, can't I just be a White man without any affiliation? For those who take the bait and claim where they're from in the form of initials to their county like S.J.C, for San Juan Capistrano, just gave someone's pen the power to keep them self in solitary forever.

My Friend Steven Smith, A.K.A. "Giant" is in My Book Prison Riot in Print, Kindle and Audio Book

My Friend Steven Smith, A.K.A. "Giant" is in My Book Prison Riot in Print, Kindle and Audio Book. It's found here in audio book~ http://amzn.to/UD9EZa To find it in print or kindle go to the side bar. Remember, you can download a kindle free in 2 minutes to your phone, tablet or computer.

I met Steve in a northern California prison and immediately called him "Giant". As with most prisons, the White inmates were heavily outnumbered. Giant was similar to me and most prisoners, he was doing his time for drug related charges. In both of our cases, we were addicted to the power that being a drug supplier brought. Thank God we outgrew that. I turned into a writer and philanthropist and Giant turned into a hooker. Just kidding, he turned into a prolific artist and mentor to wayward kids. Here's some pictures of him in the "Feds".

Both Giant and I did our time by working out a lot and playing handball and basketball. Those areas on the yard were heavily regulated by the Black inmates and the northern California Mexican inmates and we didn't have much airspace. The book, Prison Riot, A True Story of Surviving a Gang War in Prison eventually happened... Buy it, gift it to inmates and families of inmates, review it, share it, I love you.

Professor Keramet Reiter Gave Glenn Langohr's Prison Book: Pelican Bay Riot, A Five Star Review

Professor Keramet Reiter Gave Glenn Langohr's Prison Book: Pelican Bay Riot, A Five Star Review. Glenn Langohr contacted all the top Criminal Justice colleges in the U.S. and found Professor Reiter at the University of California Irvine to review one of his books, Pelican Bay Riot. After reading Glenn Langohr's book, she met him for an interview and asked him to speak to her class of 100 students as a guest Lecturer. 

To check out an excerpt or purchase, Pelican Bay Riot by Glenn Langohr in print 12.99, kindle 4.99 or audio book go here- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007G1SE7M

Here's the review- "This is a page-turner of a read about life inside the California prison system, told from the perspective of an experienced and thoughtful former prisoner, who describes unaffiliated with the various prison gangs, but collaborating and mediating among them to maintain peace on the prison yards. This first-hand account of the California prison system is not only interesting, but provides a useful counterpoint ( and compliment ) to more academic accounts of prison life." U.C. Irvine Professor Reiter

Glenn Langohr 

Glenn Langohr is available for interviews and copies of his books are available for review here- rollcallthebook@gmail.com For a complete list of his drug war and prison books in print, kindle and audio book go here- http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00571NY5A

Glenn Langohr's Novel Roll Call, A True Crime Prison Story of Corruption and Redemption Got Another Great Review

Glenn Langohr's Novel Roll Call, A True Crime Prison Story of Corruption and Redemption Got Another Great Review. A Criminal Justice Professor Glenn met on facebook reviewed his drug war and prison novel. 

Here is part of the review that can be found here- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0056C0LW4
"The author captures the little-known nuances of prison life in a vivid and accurate way. Not only do these motivate the story and dazzle the reader, they also testify to the author's experience and knowledge in California prisons. Only people who know the inside can describe the importance of paperwork, kites and gang politics in the way the author has..."

Roll Call, A True Crime Prison Story of Corruption and Redemption can be purchased in print for 16.97, kindle for 2.99 and audio book for 13.97. To check out Glenn Langohr's complete list of drug war and prison thrillers that include: Race Riot, Lock Up Diaries, Gladiator, Underdog and Prison Riot go here- http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00571NY5A

Glenn Langohr's Video Trailer For His Drug War and Prison Novel Roll Call, A True Story Crime Prison Story of Corruption and Redemption

Glenn Langohr's Video Trailer For His Drug War and Prison Novel Roll Call, A True Story Crime Prison Story of Corruption and Redemption. Available in print for 16.99, kindle for 2.99 and audio book for 13.97 all found on Amazon here- http://amzn.to/nxQt3A http://