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Caitlyn Jenner has lost a long-time friend.
William Hasley, who served as a ghostwriter for the Olympian's 1996 motivational book Finding the Champion Within, died on June 6, according to Los Angeles County Medical Examiner papers obtained by E! News. He was 78.
The Los Angeles Fire Department informed the New York Post that Hasley was discovered in an area near Runyon Canyon. Authorities said air rescuers tried but failed to save him.
"LAFD Air Operations lowered rescuers to the patient," a LAFD official told the site on June 9. "And medical treatment was administered."
Hasley was declared deceased at the scene. At this time, no cause of death has been reported.
Hasley was not only a prolific novelist, but also a screenwriter who worked on cartoons such as The Smurfs, Fat Albert, and The Cosby Kids. According to his website profile, it was his work on Fat Albert that led him to the Special Olympics, a task he was particularly enthused about because he was a former football and cross-country runner at Marshall University.
He also worked on NBC's Star Salute to the United States Olympic Team in 1984, where he met Jenner. According to Hasley's bio, the two "became fast friends, and Jenner commissioned [Hasley] to write a motivational book about his championship philosophy entitled, Finding the Champion Within for Simon & Schuster.”
The book, published in 1996, offers readers a 10-step regimen for rebooting their lives. Hasley went on to work as a ghostwriter on Marshall Sylver's Passion, Profit & Power and Jeff Olson's The Slight Edge.
In addition to books, he wrote for the 1990s series The Young Riders and Swift Justice. He also created other pilots, including Borderline Heroes, which was sold to ABC, and Brooklyn District for Universal.
According to his website, Hasley collaborated with Gerald Green and Oliver Stone on the picture Defiance while working at Universal. He also taught writing at the University of California, Los Angeles.
