Joe Fitzgerald, a Boston Herald sports columnist who later took up conservative opinionating, has died at the age of 79. He was pretty controversial back in the day, but people who knew him always said he was a nice guy. Best wishes to his family and friends. Joe Dwinell has an appreciation at the Herald. If you’re blocked by the paywall, here is the death notice at Legacy.com.
Tag: Joe Fitzgerald
Where Boston’s papers stand on death for Tsarnaev
The Boston Globe today offers some powerful arguments against executing convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Metro columnists Kevin Cullen and Yvonne Abraham weigh in, as do the paper’s editorial page, civil-liberties lawyer Harvey Silverglate and retired federal judge Nancy Gertner. (Columnist Jeff Jacoby has previously written in favor of death for Tsarnaev.)
Over at the Boston Herald, the message is mixed. In favor of the death penalty are columnist Adriana Cohen and editorial-page editor Rachelle Cohen. The lead editorial calls for the death penalty as well. Columnist Joe Fitzgerald is against capital punishment for Tsarnaev. Former mayor Ray Flynn offers a maybe, writing that he’s against the death penalty but would respect the wishes of the victims’ families.
At the Boston Herald, 30 years down the road
The Boston Herald has put together a video to mark the paper’s 30th anniversary of its current incarnation. In December 1982, Hearst nearly closed the doors before Rupert Murdoch swept in and rescued the tabloid in return for concessions from the paper’s union.
The video, featuring Herald columnists Joe Fitzgerald, Margery Eagan and Howie Carr, publisher Pat Purcell (who bought the paper from Murdoch in 1994) and others, is a self-celebration over Boston’s having remained a two-daily town — rare then and even more rare today. It’s accompanied by a column in which Fitzgerald remembers the emotional rollercoaster everyone was on.
I should add that Fitzgerald was the subject recently of a touching column by his colleague Jessica Heslam following the death of his wife, Carol. Heslam’s piece has slipped into the paid archives, but John Carroll recently excerpted parts of it. Media Nation extends its best wishes to Fitzgerald and his family.
A laugh-out-loud take on Chuck Turner
Adam Gaffin presents “Quite possibly the worst column that will ever be written about Chuck Turner.” Which can only mean one thing: Joe Fitzgerald is writing again. You’ve got to love Fitz’s shoutout to Louis Farrakhan.
Nameless mom whacks nameless paper
How much anonymity can you load into one column? The Boston Herald’s Joe Fitzgerald tried for a Guinness record yesterday, attacking a newspaper he can’t bring himself to name (if you haven’t guessed, it’s my esteemed former employer, the Boston Phoenix) with the words of an alleged hard-nosed reporter-turned-mother whom he won’t identify. Pretty gripping stuff, eh?