John Walter "Bill" Fitsell (July 25, 1923December 3, 2020) was a Canadian journalist, writer and historian. He was a columnist for The Kingston Whig-Standard from 1961 to 1993, and was the founding president of the Society for International Hockey Research in 1991. He was involved with the International Hockey Hall of Fame from 1969 to 2005, serving as its curator and historian. He published five books during his career including four on the history of ice hockey, and helped organize the Historic Hockey Series to commemorate early ice hockey games played in Kingston, Ontario. He was inducted into both the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame and the Lindsay District Sports Hall of Fame, and received the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal. Early life John Walter Fitsell was born on July 25, 1923, in Barrie, Ontario, and moved with his family to Lindsay in 1927. He had three siblings, his father John Charles Fitsell was a baker, and his mother Beatrice Exell was a homemaker. The family home where he grew up included a large lot upon which an ice hockey rink was constructed each winter, where he and his friends played as youths. Fitsell was a lifelong fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs and stated his favourite player was Charlie Conacher, since they both played as a right winger. The Maple Leafs played an exhibition game in Lindsay in 1935, and Fitsell introduced himself and his friends to the players as they exited the team's bus before the game. In the 1930s, Fitsell began a lifelong hobby of a scrapbook containing newspaper articles, photographs and other memorabilia related to the Maple Leafs. He attended his first National Hockey League game on January 18, 1936, watching the Maple Leafs play the Boston Bruins at Maple Leaf Gardens. Fitsell attended high school at Lindsay Collegiate and Vocational Institute. At age 17, he joined the Navy Cadets and departed for Victoria, British Columbia. He later joined the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1942. He played hockey while stationed in Halifax with the navy during World War II. He initially served aboard HMCS St. Francis, then was transferred to HMCS Outremont. He was a ship's writer and assisted the captains with correspondence and paying the crews. During the Normandy landings in 1944, Outremont protected the western end of the English Channel from enemy submarines. He courted Barbara Robson