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Ronald Joseph Chepesiuk (better known as Ron Chepesiuk (June 14, 1944), a former academic and full university professor, is currently an  author, publisher, screenwriter, radio host, film producer and screenwriter.

Early Life and Education
He was born in Fort William, Ontario, Canada (now known as Thunder Bay, Ontario) in the East End of the city. He attended the Fort William Collegiate Institute from 1959 to 1964, where he excelled as a basketball player.

He attended Moorhead State College (now known as the University of Minnesota at Moorhead) in Moorhead, Minnesota, from 1964 to 1968, earning a BA degree in history. From 1971 to 1972, he attended Atlanta University (currently Clark-Atlanta University) in Atlanta, Georgia, where he earned an MLS (Master’s in Library Service). He graduated at the top of his class.

Academic Career
From 1973 until 2002 He was on the faculty of Winthrop University, serving as Professor and Head of the Archives and Special Collections. During his tenure as archivist, he built a notable collection of archival materials relating to women’s history, attracting scholars from across the country. He had two sabbaticals: Ireland (2001-2002) and Colombia (1996-1997) While in Ireland for his sabbatical, he earned a Diploma in Archival Administration from the National University of Ireland, University College Dublin in 1982. He took early retirement from Winthrop University in January 2001 as a full professor to focus on his writing career.

Freelance Writing
While in Ireland, he sold his first freelance article to the British publication, Marathon Runner, profiling Belfast’s first marathon. Hundreds of articles followed for such publications as Modern Maturity (The AARP’s official publication), Gallery, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and Women’s World, among others. He served as a contributing writer to several publications, including American Libraries, Environmental Health Perspectives and Pet Business, among others. As a freelance journalist, he has reported from more 35 countries, including Colombia, Nicaragua, Cuba, Hong King, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

During the course of his writing career, Ron has interviewed a host of celebrities including Yasser Arafat, Abbie Hoffman, Jimmy Carter, Timothy Leary, Evander Holyfield, Andy McDowall, Larry Holmes and Herschel Walker.

Podcast Host
Since January 28, 2011, Chepesiuk has hosted the podcast, The Crime Beat with Ron Chepesiuk radio show. Guests have included Robert Kennedy, Jr., Noam Chomsky, James Patterson, F. Lee Bailey, Henry Hill, Joe Pistone, George Jung and Chris Kyle (American sniper), among others. Since its inception, the show has aired in 160 plus countries and has had 70 million downloads of its archived shows.

Screenwriting
Chepesiuk is a graduate of Screenwriting University’s Pro Series (2013) and Master class (2015) programs. His genres include crime, politics and espionage. He has authored 14 scripts, four of which have been optioned for movies.

Television
As an expert on crime, he has appeared as an interviewee on several crime shows airing on the History Channel, Biography, Reelz, Black Entertainment Television, Discovery, Dateline NBC, Investigative Discovery, TVI, Starz and other cable channels. He has served as a consultant to the History Channel’s Gangland TV series. He is a producer-researcher with the Dan4 Entertainment production company.

Books

 * ''Gangsters of Harlem (2007)
 * Sergeant Smack (2010),
 * The Trafficantes (2010)
 * Queenpins (2011)
 * Straight from the Hood'' (2011)
 * Gangsters of Miami (2013)
 * Escobar versus Cali: The War of the Cartels (2013)
 * Black Caesar (2013),
 * Black Gangsters of Chicago (2014)
 * Narcos Inc. (2019)
 * The Real Mr. Big: How a Colombia Refugee Became the United Kingdom’s Most Notorious Cocaine Kingpin (2021)

Documentary Producer, Writer and Director

 * The Frank Matthews Story (2012)
 * Ike Atkinson, Kingpin. In his Own Words (2012)
 * Superfly: The True Untold Story of Frank Lucas, American Gangster (2007)

Honors

 * In 1999, Chepesiuk received the Humphrey/OCLC/ Forest Press Award for significant contribution to international librarianship.
 * In the 1990s, Chepesiuk served as a contributing editor of American Libraries, the official publication of the American Library Association.
 * In 2002, he served as a Fulbright Scholar and visiting professor of journalism at Chittagong University in Bangladesh.
 * 2008 Independent Publisher Book Award
 * From 2009 to 2010, he served as a Fulbright Scholar and Visiting Professor at Paramadina University in Jakarta, Indonesia. He currently serves as a Senior Research Associate at the Policy Institute at Paramadina University.
 * 2011 Independent Publisher Book Awards.