EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE: Writing ‘Outside the Lines’

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — An investigative sports writer for ESPN calls Wilmington home. He stumbled upon the Cape Fear while on assignment for the network and decided that he didn’t want to leave.

He works for ESPN as a senior writer in the investigations unit. He lives in Wilmington.

Shaun Assael being interviewed on the set of ESPN

Shaun Assael’s the journey to the Port City began when he was assigned investigate Bladen County teenager Lennon Lacy, an athlete whose death in the small town of Bladenboro made headlines around the world.

“Because they weren’t all too thrilled to see us,” Assael told Daniel Seamans, “it took me 7 trips to Bladenboro to do that story but also 7 trips to Wilmington, and along the way I fell in love with the city.”

He loved it so much he moved here. Assael has penned several books. A couple that involve the darker side of sports. His latest investigates the murder of Sonny Liston, a boxer who died a mysterious death.

“I thought there had been a lot of really good biographies about him,” Assael said, “but what about if I looked at the last year of his life and looked at Las Vegas in 1970, what could I turn up. And I spent 3 years documenting every twist and turn of Las Vegas crime, politics, corruption of that year.”

His investigation is a knockout.

“I turned up some never before seen details that suggest indeed,” Assael said, “Sonny Liston, whose death was called natural causes, was in fact murder”

Shaun Assael, you bring to light the darker side of the sporting world. You’ve also got some pretty cool dogs.
Hands down, you are extraordinary.

One of Shaun’s dogs

Shaun will be signing books Saturday, October 29th at a FanFest Expo from 4-7pm inside the Schwartz Center at Cape Fear Community College.
You can read more about his career by clicking here.