[2][3] He served in the United States Army during World War II and landed with the 6th Engineer Brigade at Omaha Beach.

His favorite players were Milt Schmidt and Terry O'Reilly, and he covered Bobby Orr's whole tenure with the Bruins.

[6] Fitzgerald became the first sportswriter to receive the Lester Patrick Trophy when he was honored in 1978, in recognition of service to hockey in the United States.

[2] Golf journalist Ernie Roberts reported that Fitzgerald never played the game, but had a good rapport with the players and earned their respect.

[2] Colleagues at The Boston Globe reported that when a publishing deadline was approaching, Fitzgerald regularly responded to distracting conversations with sarcasm by asking, "Is my typing disturbing you"?

[3] Fitzgerald was married to Shirley Yuhas, secretary to Weston Adams who owned the Boston Bruins.