Cleveland’s Charles Ramsey (pictured left of center) has just signed a book deal to publish his life’s memoirs, Cleveland.com reports.
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Ramsey’s contract is with David Gray & Co., a Cleveland-based publisher. His memoir will cover his life before, during and following his rescue of three girls from Ariel Castro’s basement in May.
Ramsey encountered the girls after he heard screaming from Castro’s home next-door. He helped a woman –Amanda Berry – escape through the front door and called the authorities. Three others were also rescued, including Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight and Berry’s six-year-old daughter.
A judge sentenced Castro to 1,000 years in prison on August 1st for kidnapping, raping and imprisoning the women for over a decade. He reportedly hung himself behind bars in September.
A flurry of news media and offers converged around Ramsey after the rescue. Northeastern restaurants offered him free hamburgers for life, T-shirts called him “Cleveland’s Hero,” and a Taiwanese company even made him the subject of a video game.
For the most part, he didn’t take kindly to the attention, noting he never authorized the merchandise.
“He is encouraging people to do things that will help the victims,” said Patricia Walker, his attorney. “He was never asked about authorizing Ramsey Burgers.”
Ramsey also denied that his actions were heroic, simply referring to them as a “good deed.” “I knew something was wrong when a little, pretty white girl ran into a black man’s arms. Something is wrong here. Dead giveaway,” he told a reporter.
According to Gray, the memoir will offer a detailed account of the day of the rescue, living next door to Castro while unaware of the trapped girls and the notoriety the case garnered Ramsey.
The book will also focus on Ramsey’s life before the rescue, including growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood, going to jail three times and working numerous odd jobs.
Per the publisher, the memoirs are not to take advantage of Ramsey.
“It’s not an opportunity to cash in on celebrity,” Gray said. “He really wants to tell his story and to say things he wouldn’t have a platform for, under other circumstances. He is not someone the media normally would pay attention to.”
“He’s completely unfiltered. I think that’s part of his appeal. He says what he thinks. I am really intrigued by him — as a person, with the story he had to tell, and with his ability to tell it.”
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Charles Ramsey Signs Book Deal For Memoir was originally published on newsone.com
