Mikael Luman

About Mikael Luman

From the time he was a young boy, Mikael Luman seemed destined for greatness. A natural athlete, he excelled in sports, was popular in school, and was supported by a close and loving family.  Having broken numerous records for the 800 meters in track during his junior high years, by the time he reached high school, he was well on his way to his dream of an athletic scholarship for college and the opportunity to try out for the US Olympic Track team. 

It wasn’t until a devastating knee injury during a high school basketball game literally stopped him in his tracks that Mikael realized his dreams would not be coming true. Depressed and no longer focused on training, Mikael, who had once said “no” to the temptation of alcohol and drugs, fearful of how it would affect his running, said “yes!” Within a year of his first drink, Mikael was cutting school, partying with a fake ID, and heavily involved with alcohol and drugs.  By nineteen, he was dealing acid and ecstasy at local bars and using meth. A few years later, he was manufacturing and selling meth. Constantly on the run from the law for more than eight years, Mikael was in and out of jail and rehab. It wasn’t until his final arrest and sentencing to fifty-three months in prison in 2000 that Mikael realized that if something didn’t change he would soon be dead.

While in prison, Mikael focused on his recovery utilizing the skill set he had used as an athlete. With discipline, courage, and commitment, he devoted himself to healing the spiritual, physical, and emotional wreckage of a shattered athletic dream.  After an early release from prison, as part of an intensive boot camp program, Mikael stayed focused on his recovery and on finding a way to help young adults on the verge of making the same bad choices he had made. With this in mind, he founded the nonprofit organization “A Generation Free.”

In November of 2006, Mikael wrote “800 Meters,” an alarming recounting of his descent into addiction.  In 2007, he bicycled nearly 12,000 miles across the country to raise awareness about a Generation Free.  Mikael is currently training for the Ironman in Hawaii and is a regular speaker to audiences of students, athletes, teachers, parents, and those in treatment about his own experience and the importance of educating children about the consequences of poor choices.

Books:

800 Meters: A Journey of Addiction, Recovery and Redemption (Generation Free Press, 2008)

Mikael Luman had it all: good friends, a loving family and an outstanding future as an athlete. But his spiral into drug addiction destroyed everything Mikael valued. He traded college athletics for a world of strippers and good times, highs and lows, raves and week-long parties all fueled by ecstasy, nitrous oxide, cocaine and methamphetamines. In and out of jail, no longer possessing even a driver s license, the one-time star runner now ran from the law and from the demons that drove him.

Even a son born out of wedlock could not break Mikael s addiction. He dealt and manufactured drugs, was kidnapped and shot at. He watched his friends ruin their lives. Yet even at his lowest moments, Mikael believed that he had a special calling and that the hell he was living was for a reason. His wild ride ended with an arrest and a prison term, where he slowly got back in touch with reality, his purpose in life and the son he'd hardly known.

Now, Mikael has told the whole story in an honest, frank and sometimes humorous memoir that only someone who has survived the criminal lifestyle of drug addiction can tell. Married with a daughter, he wants to use his experiences to bring nationwide awareness to the need for drug treatment programs that are not just reactive but proactive. Mikael Luman broke out of the prison of addiction, but many more will not. His inspiring book is a must-read for parents, educators, addicts and young people who think, "It will never happen to me."

Reviews of Mikael Luman and His Work

"You did a great job speaking to our Health classes! So good, in fact, that we have another request. We have an assembly for our senior class which is about 400 students and the assembly will be held in the auditorium. Might you be interesting in speaking? We’d love to have you back."
- Ken Yarnell, Assistant Principal, Aloha High School

"The writing was so real and raw that I was immediately pulled into a world formerly unknown to me—of drugs, addiction, crime rings, and the thought processes of a teenage boy.  Through such an intimate and unflinchingly narrative, I felt closer to understanding how someone with such promise could find himself so far from where he began and then fight to pull himself up again.  Ultimately I felt this book inspired me, as an adult, to question my old assumptions about why and how people become addicted to drugs and to further open the lines of communication with my own teenage children.  Thanks Mikael."
-Kym Croft Miller, Portland, Oregon