Fonds F2375 - J.W. (Bill) Fitsell fonds

John Walter (Bill) Fitsell, born on 25 July 1923, is an author, former columnist, and historian. After serving in the Canadian Naval Forces in the Second World War, Fitsell began his first job as a sports writer for The Lindsay Post. He would go on to work for The Gananoque Reporter and the Kingston Whig-Standard, where he wrote a regular column for many years.
He has written five books: Hockey's Captains, Colonels and Kings (Boston Mills Press, 1987); Fitsell's Guide to the Old Ontario Strand: A Cultural and Historical Companion (with Michael Dawber, Quarry Press, 1994); Hockey's Hub: Three Centuries of Hockey in Kingston (with Mark Potter, Quarry Heritage Books, 2003); How Hockey Happened (Quarry Press, 2007); and Captain James T. Sutherland - The Grand Old Man of Hockey (Quarry Heritage Books, 2012).
He has served as a member of the Board of the International Hockey Hall of Fame for many years, and was the founding president of the Society for International Hockey Research.
In 2006, the Society for International Hockey Research presented him with the Brian McFarlane Award for outstanding research and writing. He was also inducted into the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame in 2009 as a 'Builder.'