John Joseph Fitz Gerald (March 7, 1893 – March 17, 1963) was a turf racing writer for the ''

New York Morning Telegraph ''The Morning Telegraph'' (1839 – April 10, 1972) (sometimes referred to as the ''New York Morning Telegraph'') was a New York City broadsheet newspaper owned by Moe Annenberg's Cecelia Corporation. It was first published as the '' Sunday ...

'', from 1912 to 1940 (except for his service in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

), serving as turf editor for the last 15 years. He was later the public relations director at various times for Garden State Racetrack and

Atlantic City Race Course The Atlantic City Race Course (ACRC), formerly the Atlantic City Race Track, was a Thoroughbred horse race track located in the Mays Landing section of Hamilton Township, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The track is located off the ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

as well as the

Tropical Park Race Track Tropical Park Race Track was a horse racing facility built on at the current intersection of Bird Road and the Palmetto Expressway in Southwest Dade Miami part of metropolitan Miami, Florida and what is now Olympia Heights. The race track was ...

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. Fitz Gerald was the sports editor of the ''Daily Sports Bulletin'', a sports daily, in his later years. His last name was sometimes spelled ''FitzGerald'' by others, but ''Fitz Gerald'' was the spelling used in his ''Morning Telegraph'' column. He is best known today for popularizing "

Big Apple "The Big Apple" is a nickname for New York City. It was first popularized in the 1920s by John J. Fitz Gerald, a sportswriter for the ''New York Morning Telegraph''. Its popularity since the 1970s is due in part to a promotional campaign by th ...

" as a nickname for New York City.

External links

J. J. Fitz Gerald obituaries (1963)
1893 births 1963 deaths American military personnel of World War I Sportswriters from New York (state) American newspaper editors Horse racing in the United States {{US-horseracing-bio-stub