During the 1970s, Fleischman wrote regularly on the Flyers when the team was nicknamed the "Broad Street Bullies", and won Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975.[4][5]Daily News colleague Ray Didinger recalled that after the 1974 Stanley Cup championship parade, Fleischman stated that he heard an advertisement on the radio which said, "And be sure to pick up tomorrow's Daily News to read Bill Fleischman's story about how this Flyers championship team was built".[6] Fleischman had planned to write a "fun and easy" article about the parade, instead of a lengthier article on the history of the team.[6] Despite exhaustion from not having a day off in weeks and a rapidly-approaching publishing deadline, Didinger credited him for remaining calm instead of confronting the paper's editors, and having "just sat down and wrote a thoroughly detailed piece that read like he spent weeks researching it".[6]
In 2005, Fleischman retired from full-time work with the Daily News, then continued to write as a correspondent for NASCAR and Drexel basketball.[2][4]
Later career
After retiring from full-time work, Fleischman was a commentator on Daily News Live, a sports talk television show broadcast on Comcast. He also co-ordinated the scheduling of other panelists on the show.[3] He later served as the historian for the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame, and wrote biographies for the inductees.[2][4]
University of Delaware
University of Delaware campus
Fleischman began working as an adjunct professor for journalism at the University of Delaware in 1981,[7] and taught at the school for 28 years, where he shared his newspapers experiences and articles in classes.[4]Jeff Gluck felt that Fleischman wanted students to think outside the box, and stated that, "He really wanted to push you and say, here's what you should do. Don't settle for this, be fair, but be creative. It would really bother him when people would settle for the mundane, routine stuff. He had a way of challenging you and pushing you, but in the kindest way possible".[2]
As of 2019, the University of Delaware offered a stipend of US$1,000 named for Fleischman, given to a student with an internship in sports journalism or copy editing.[4][12]
Reputation
Jeff Pearlman wrote that, "The reason [Fleischman was] so well regarded for his time as a beat writer with the Flyers, is because he was such a decent guy".[2] Flyers' team captain Bobby Clarke felt, "There was no harshness, no vindictiveness [in his work]. He wasn't ever out to get somebody".[3] Wayne Fish wrote in The Morning Call that, "[Fleischman] understood what it meant for blue-collar fans to relate to a blue-collar team", and that, "His sharp wit, his ability to boil events down to a single purpose is what made for such compelling reading".[5]
Personal life
Fleischman met his wife, Barbara, while taking a modern poetry course at Gettysburg College. He later jokingly said to his wife, "I'm the only thing you ever got out of that class".[1][3]
The Fleischmans moved to Wilmington, Delaware and were married for 57 years.[3] They had two daughters, one of whom died at age 21 in a car accident. They established a scholarship in her name at Syracuse University, given annually to a female journalism student.[3][4]
Fleischman died from cancer on May 1, 2019, in Wilmington.[3][4]
