Edward Earl Fitzgerald

Edward Earl Fitzgerald (September 10, 1919 – February 11, 2001) was a sports journalist, editor of Sport magazine, executive in chief of the Book-of-the-Month Club, founder of the Quality Paperback Book Club, president of the books division at Doubleday, and president of McCall's Magazine Group. He also edited, authored and co-authored numerous sports books.

Career After serving in the Army during World War II, Fitzgerald began his journalism career by getting hired as a writer at the newly formed Sport magazine, a monthly which helped define the sports publication genre and predated its future rival Sports Illustrated by a decade. He launched a parallel career as an editor and author of sports books, including Kick-Off! Great Moments on the Gridiron (1948) and The Story of the Brooklyn Dodgers (1949). In addition, he wrote youth-oriented works of fiction in the "Barnes sports novel series".

In 1951, he was promoted to Editor-in-Chief of Sport, a position he held throughout the 1950s. With his stream of published books, and his tenure at Sport, Fitzgerald built a national reputation. Athletes who wanted to write memoirs often sought him out, for example, he edited the 1958 autobiography of tennis star Althea Gibson. During the decade, he found time to edit other magazines, including True Detective and Saga: True Adventures for Men.

In 1960, Fitzgerald was named president of the Doubleday books division, which included the Literary Guild. In 1968, he became president of McCall's Magazine Group, the company which published McCall's, Redbook, and Saturday Review. He continued to co-author sports memoirs, working with Yogi Berra on the Yankee catcher's 1961 autobiography. A few years later, Fitzgerald co-wrote the memoirs of sportscaster Mel Allen and football player Johnny Unitas.

From 1973 through 1984, Fitzgerald headed the Book-of-the-Month Club during its peak membership period when it expanded from general-interest hardcovers into a wide selection of titles as well as specialty niches. However, he soon discovered that as a retiree, his longtime problem with alcohol drinking was becoming worse. It reached a point where he twice checked himself into the St. Mary's Rehabilitation Center in Minneapolis. His second stay in 1988 proved very beneficial, and he wrote a candid, day-by-day account of the experience in That Place in Minnesota: Changing Lives, Saving Lives (1990), which was praised for its realism. In his last book project, he co-wrote the 1991 autobiography of New York Giants quarterback Jeff Hostetler.

Edward Fitzgerald died on February 11, 2001, in New Rochelle, New York of complications from a stroke. He was 81. He was survived by his wife Libby and their son and daughter.

Books

Kick-Off! Great Moments on the Gridiron. Fitzgerald, Ed (ed.). New York: Bantam Books, 1948. .

The Book of Major League Baseball Clubs. Fitzgerald, Ed (ed.). New York: A.S. Barnes, 1952. The Book of Major League Baseball Clubs: The American League. Fitzgerald, Ed (ed.). New York: A.S. Barnes, 1952. The Book of Major League Baseball Clubs: The National League. Fitzgerald, Ed (ed.). New York: A.S. Barnes, 1952. A Treasury of Sport Stories. Fitzgerald, Ed (ed.). New York: Bartholomew House, 1955.

Heroes of Sport. Fitzgerald, Ed (ed.). New York: Bartholomew House, 1960.