Lionel Fanthorpe

Lionel was born in Dereham, Norfolk, England and worked as a Journalist in Cromer, before training as a Teacher. He was Further Education Tutor at Gamlingay Village College in Cambridgeshire until he was head-hunted to become the Chief Training Executive for the Phoenix Timber Group in Essex. He lectured for Cambridge University’s E-MB on The Psychology and Sociology of Unexplained Phenomena. For over ten years he was Headmaster of a big Comprehensive High School in Cardiff.
Lionel is President of ASSAP (The Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena) and, accordingly, Patricia is First Lady. (Phil Walton -- the ex ASSAP Chairman -- is on line at PhilWalton@flyingwombats.com) Lionel is also President of BUFORA (the British UFO Research Association). Intensive research into every aspect of the paranormal for over thirty years has taken him on repeated firsthand site investigations from Rennes-le-Château in France and Wewelsburg in Germany to Oak Island Nova Scotia, Hawaii, Roswell New Mexico and the Barbados cemetery where coffins allegedly moved around inside a sealed vault.
He’s a full, professional member of Equity, and began his showbiz career in the 'fifties when he appeared on Anglia TV and BBC Look East. His speciality in those days was to research a mystery and present it, then sing one of his songs about it -- which is pretty much what he did on his famous and popular Fortean TV series for Channel 4 TV. His other highly successful TV series include Stranger than Fiction for West Country TV and Stations of the Cross for HTV. He also presented a great mystery show called The Real Nostradamus on Channel 4 TV. He was Question Master for two series of Holy Quiz on HTV Wales and he presented the 20-part Castles of Horror series on Discovery and Horizon. He also presented two series of the history programme Talking Stones. He makes frequent Guest Celebrity appearances on shows such as BBC 1’s The Heaven and Earth Show and ITV 1’s This Morning. He frequently broadcasts for BBC Kent, Radio Wales, Real Radio and many other stations including Coast to Coast, and the Joe Salzone Show in the USA. He's an actor, scriptwriter, presenter, singer-songwriter, published prize-winning poet and general all-round entertainer. As a Dan Grade Martial Arts Instructor, he enjoys action sequences and does his own stunts. He’s also a keen biker.
Some of his recent books from Dundurn include:--
1. The Oak Island Mystery
2. The World's Greatest Unsolved Mysteries
3. The World's Most Mysterious People
4. The World's Most Mysterious Places
5. Mysteries of the Bible
6. Death the Final Mystery
7. The World's Most Mysterious Objects
8. The World's Most Mysterious Murders
9. Unsolved Mysteries of the Sea
10. Mysteries and Secrets of the Templars
11. (Due out shortly) The World’s Most Mysterious Castles
Weiser Books of Boston, USA have recently brought out:--
12. Mysteries of Templar Treasure and the Holy Grail
Here’s a brief comment from a Radio station in New York:--
"Lionel and Patricia Fanthorpe's new book 'The World's Most Mysterious Murders' takes the reader on an incredible journey into the paranormal. The stories in this book are simply chilling to read; an astonishing look at some of history's most gruesome murders. I've had the pleasure of having Lionel on my radio show twice, and both times the e-mail response has been overwhelmingly positve! There is a huge audience for this topic, and Lionel and Patricia have tapped into it.”
-- Joe Salzone, WGBB Radio in New York