Lem, second-youngest child in a home with 12 children, was born in Washington DC in 1962. His father and mother, Cicero and Freda Lee Terry Satterfield, were born and raised in Mississippi. Cicero was drafted into the Army in 1941 and served as an airplane mechanic at the Tuskegee Army Airfield in Alabama during World War II. 

When Lem was three, his family moved to Takoma Park, and he eventually became the first black Eagle Scout in Takoma Park’s Troop 33. In 10th grade, he joined the wrestling team at Montgomery Blair High. As a 138-pound senior, Lem went 11-0-1 during the regular season, 18-3-1 overall and finished as a runner-up in the regional tournament.

After a brief stint as a wrestler at Montgomery junior college, Lem enrolled at the University of Maryland, where he covered sports for the Diamondback Newspaper. Lem also won five intramural tournament wrestling titles before graduating in 1987 with a Bachelor’s in Magazine Journalism. Lem’s father Cicero Satterfield is a member of the original Tuskegee Airmen.

From 1989 through 2007, Lem was an investigative and sports reporter for the Baltimore Sun, being nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, becoming the first media member to be inducted into the Baltimore County Wrestling Hall of Fame, and earning a Governors’ Citation from William Donald Schaefer, among other accolades. Lem selected the Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro Wrestling Team from 1990 through his final year with The Sun, and was widely seen as a premiere advocate for the sport. 

Lem is the recipient of Washington Metropolitan Wrestling Officials’ Association’s John J. McNelis Award for Distinguished Service To Wrestling as well as The Maryland Wrestling Officials’ Association’s Award for Outstanding Contributions To Wrestling.

Lem credits wrestling with twice saving his life. Although struggles with alcoholism and substance use was a downside of Lem's college experience, wrestling served as a means of redemption: He was clean and sober while earning his fifth intramural crown. Lem is currently in his 37th year of recovery and works as a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist helping others.

In 2008, Lem was stricken with a rare form of cancer. At Johns Hopkins Hospital, two of Lem's nurses were mothers of wrestlers, and they were proactive in his care. 

Lem’s other reporting experiences include those at the Maryland Independent Newspaper, the Columbia Flier, Digital Sports, FanHouse.com, ESPRise.com, BoxingScene.com,

RingTV.com, Zenger News, the Baltimore Banner and Premier Boxing Champions.