This Ragged Life Renewed: The 2026 Edition

2026-10-27

This Ragged Life Renewed: A Life of Rebellion, Faith, Loss, and Renewal by Ryan Thompson

Tags: Ryan Thompson, This Ragged Life Renewed, Autobiography, Memoir, Christianity, Fatherhood, Personal Freedom, Audiobook

This Ragged Life Renewed: The Story I Started in 1999, and the Chapters Life Wrote Afterward

By Ryan Thompson (DJ Disruptarian) | Disruptarian.com | October 27, 2026

Rebellion. Faith. Loss. Fatherhood. Survival. And the long, sometimes painful business of starting over. After more than twenty-five years, several editions, and more life experiences than I ever intended to collect, I am announcing the re-release of my autobiography, This Ragged Life Renewed: A Life of Rebellion, Faith, Loss, and Renewal. This is not simply another printing of an old book. The 2026 edition brings the story forward to the present, revisits events that needed more explanation, restores material from earlier editions, and includes the experiences that changed my life after the original story ended. Some of those experiences were blessings. Others nearly killed me. And a few taught me lessons I apparently wasn't bright enough to learn the first time. This book is not the story of a perfect man. It is the story of a man who has made mistakes, questioned authority, wrestled with faith, experienced both success and failure, and occasionally discovered that survival is an accomplishment all by itself.

A Story That Began in 1999

I first started writing This Ragged Life Renewed in 1999. I was a young man who had spent years living a rather unconventional life. I had grown up in Utah, rebelled against the culture surrounding me, become involved in the punk rock scene, lived on the streets, struggled with drugs, and spent time in jail. I was angry at the world, and not always without reason. But I was also responsible for a good deal of the trouble I found myself in. I was trying to understand how a young man could wander so far from the person he wanted to become. Then, shortly after Christmas in 1998, something happened on an icy road near Deer Park, Washington. I was driving an unreliable car without a license, with bald tires, as a blizzard approached. I slid off the road and found myself stranded. I prayed. What followed became a turning point in my relationship with God and ultimately inspired me to write my story. I released the first version of the book in 2001. After my youngest brother, Justin, died in 2002, I updated the manuscript and began preserving the story online. Other revisions followed in 2003 and 2009. Years later, I revisited the manuscript again, including a published edition in 2023. But the original story ended long before much of what would ultimately define my adult life. And that is why I decided it needed to be revisited once more.

What Has Changed in the 2026 Edition?

The new edition maintains the original story and its spiritual foundation, but the narrative now reaches much further into my life. It follows my experiences as a husband and father, my years building technology businesses, my travels, my injuries, the loss of financial security, the end of my marriage, and the ongoing process of rebuilding. Several chapters have undergone substantial revisions, while previously missing context has been restored.

1. A More Complete Account of My Early Life

The revised book takes a closer look at my childhood in Utah, including the influence of my father, grandparents, and the family circumstances that shaped my early decisions. I write about growing up in a struggling household, moving frequently, and feeling like an outsider in communities where conformity was often treated as a virtue. I also revisit my teenage years, the punk rock movement, the choices that led me toward homelessness and crime, and the people who helped me along the way. Some of those memories are difficult to revisit. Others remind me that even during the worst periods of my life, there were decent people willing to extend a hand.

2. Faith, Rebellion, and the Search for Something Worth Believing

Faith is central to this book, but it isn't a story about somebody who discovered Christianity and suddenly became a model citizen. That would be a considerably shorter book, and a work of fiction. My faith developed through experiences that challenged what I thought I understood about religion, responsibility, forgiveness, and the relationship between God and man. I have spent much of my life questioning authority, including religious authority. But questioning the institutions built around faith is not necessarily the same thing as rejecting faith itself. The 2026 edition explores that distinction more clearly. It also examines how my convictions have changed with age, experience, and fatherhood, including beliefs I held in earlier years that I now regret.

3. The 2013 Accident That Changed Everything

One of the most important expanded sections concerns a serious automobile accident in May 2013. While traveling for work between California and Washington, I was struck by a drunk driver on Interstate 5 in southern Oregon. The other driver died. I survived with forty-two fractures and extensive injuries to my arm, shoulder, legs, and feet. The accident changed my ability to work and contributed to a long period of physical and financial difficulties. In earlier editions, I had not explained the full extent of those injuries or their lasting consequences. The revised Chapter Eleven, Still Standing, provides a more complete account. It also looks at the relationship between my health, my career, and the difficulties developing within my marriage. Surviving an accident is one thing. Learning to live with the consequences years afterward is another.

4. Losing Nearly Everything in Puerto Rico

In September 2017, my family was living in Puerto Rico when Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the island. We lost our home, vehicle, sailboat, business equipment, and years of accumulated work. Our plans for the future disappeared along with much of our property. We spent weeks in a hurricane shelter before leaving the island with little more than the clothes and belongings we could carry. Chapter Twelve, Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude, recounts those experiences and the travels that followed. It also includes our time in Ireland, where a family provided us with shelter after the hurricanes. That experience remains an important part of my personal history, and it is one reason Ireland continues to hold a special place in my life.

5. Marriage, Divorce, Fatherhood, and Regret

Some of the most difficult material in this edition concerns the end of my marriage and the changes in my relationship with my children. I have five children, and being their father remains one of the most important parts of my identity. The revised chapters explore marriage, loyalty, conflict, divorce, and the consequences of decisions made over many years. They also examine events in Ireland and Oregon, including personal confrontations and injuries that I had not previously described in sufficient detail. These are events presented from my own experiences and recollections. I recognize that other people involved may remember or interpret some things differently. I do not pretend to have handled every situation properly. There are decisions I regret, opportunities I missed, and moments when I should have listened more carefully or acted differently. The book also includes A Letter to My Children, written to explain where I came from, what I learned, and what I hope they will understand about me. It is among the most personal things I have ever written.

6. New Details About My Later Injuries and Recovery

The latest revisions also clarify injuries sustained during a 2021 confrontation in Ireland and an April 2024 accident involving a ladder. These accounts help explain the physical difficulties I continue to face. I am currently living in the Philippines, where recovery and the practical realities of disability remain part of my daily life. I have not abandoned my work, my writing, or my plans for the future. But I've had to accept that the life I imagined at twenty is not necessarily the life I can live at fifty. That does not mean the story is finished.

7. Restored Poetry, Earlier Editions, and Family History

One of the more meaningful parts of this project has been recovering older writings that had effectively disappeared. Using the Internet Archive, I was able to recover earlier versions of my autobiography and poetry that I had written decades ago. The new edition includes six poems, an account of the earlier editions, and a connection to my family history archive. It also incorporates updated cover artwork and revised formatting for print and electronic reading. My goal was not to erase the earlier versions. It was to preserve them while finally bringing the story forward. Readers who are interested in the historical material can explore the earlier writings at CreativeGrace.org.

The Audiobook Has Also Been Updated

For those who prefer listening rather than reading, an updated audiobook has been produced. The latest production edition runs approximately 1 hour and 34 minutes, with 27 audio tracks covering the introductory material, chapters, personal reflections, poetry, and concluding material. It uses computer-generated narration. The revised audiobook reflects the latest manuscript changes, including the expanded accounts of the 2013 accident and later events. I wanted the story to be accessible in multiple formats, whether somebody prefers reading an EPUB, opening a PDF, holding a printed book, or listening during a long drive.

Why I'm Releasing This Book Again

There is something rather humbling about reading your own words from twenty-five years ago. You remember who you were when you wrote them. You remember what you believed. You remember the things you thought you understood. And then you realize just how much life has taught you since. When I first wrote this book, I thought renewal was largely about leaving an old life behind. I still believe that is part of it. But I have come to understand that renewal is not necessarily a single dramatic event. Sometimes it means getting sober. Sometimes it means accepting responsibility. Sometimes it means forgiving somebody. Sometimes it means acknowledging that the person who needs to change is the one looking back at you in the mirror. And sometimes it simply means waking up tomorrow and trying again. The libertarian in me still believes strongly in individual liberty and personal responsibility. But freedom without responsibility eventually becomes another form of selfishness. That is a lesson I have encountered more than once. My faith has also changed over the years. It has become less about winning arguments and more about understanding what I believe God expects of me. I still have questions. I still challenge conventional thinking. I still believe institutions, governments, and powerful people deserve scrutiny. But I have learned that questioning everything is not nearly as difficult as being willing to question yourself.

This Isn't a Victory Lap

I want to make something clear. This Ragged Life Renewed is not a celebration of every choice I have made. It is not an attempt to rewrite my history, excuse my failures, or convince readers that I have always been the good guy. I have been wrong. I have hurt people. I have been hurt. I have made decisions I would change if given another opportunity. And I have experienced kindness and grace from people who had no obligation to offer either. The purpose of this book is to tell the story as faithfully as I can, including the uncomfortable parts. I wrote it for my children, for the people who knew me along the way, and for readers who may recognize something of their own struggles in mine. If somebody reads this book and discovers that they are not beyond forgiveness, beyond learning, or beyond making a new start, then sharing my story will have been worthwhile.

Where to Read, Download, Listen to, or Purchase the Book

The 2026 edition is available to read online, purchase in print and ebook formats through Lulu, and hear as a free audiobook through the Internet Archive.

Read the book online

Read This Ragged Life Renewed on Creative Grace

Listen to the audiobook

Purchase the 2026 edition

Earlier editions and recovered writing

No separate Amazon listing for the revised 2026 edition has been verified yet.

A Final Word

This book has followed me through more than half my life. It began when I was a young man trying to make sense of the past and has now become a record of experiences I never could have imagined when I first started writing. Some of the people who helped shape that story are no longer here. Some relationships have changed beyond recognition. Some wounds have healed, while others remain. But I'm still here. Still writing. Still asking questions. Still trying to become a better man, a better father, and a more faithful Christian. I named this book This Ragged Life Renewed because I believed people could change. Twenty-five years later, I believe that more strongly than ever. A ragged life does not have to be a wasted life. Sometimes it is simply a life that has not finished telling its story.

Ryan Thompson

DJ Disruptarian

Disruptarian.com | CreativeGrace.org