Bruce Harvey Fitzgerald 1941-2025
For the past two years, our stories about historic preservation have been co-authored by Karelia Martinez Carbonell, president of the Historic Preservation Association of Coral Gables, and her colleague Bruce Fitzgerald. Bruce passed away in April. In his honor, we are running this personal tribute by Karelia.
It is with great sadness and sorrow that I sit to write this tribute. My dear friend and beloved colleague has passed away. And I am heartbroken. He was my soul brother and creative twin. We’d say to each other, “We’re like two peas in a pod,” and we’d laugh, knowing how special our friendship was. I am devastated by this unexpected loss.
Bruce was the utmost gentleman. Refined. Elegant. A diplomat in the way he conducted himself in society. He was sweet, kind and caring. He was a creative genius. A wordsmith who crafted beautiful sentences and used language that moved the reader. He was a meticulous dresser. He loved it when I called him a “fashionista.” He wore designer suits with colorful high-top vintage converse sneakers. He was an optimist who exuded a “joie de vivre” – an enjoyment of life. He had a wonderful sense of humor, and loved books, theater, and music. He loved Sundays, when he looked forward to watching football games while reading his New York Times. He devoured every article that had to do with the arts and architecture. He was clever and witty. He’d always have a quote to share. One of his favorites was, “I say it’s spinach and the hell with it.” The quote was from a 1928 New Yorker cartoon, which, according to Bruce, played off how people ‘back in the day’ were not generally enamored of spinach. It became a catchword for “it is all nonsense.”
Another Bruce favorite saying for his daily routine was, “I wake up in the morning and brush my teeth, and then I sharpen my tongue.” It was a 1940s quote attributed to writer Dorothy Parker, one of Bruce’s favorites because of her wit.
Bruce was also an ardent preservationist. He loved all types and styles of architecture – he’d say “the message is in the mix.” He was relentless in penning support for the preservation of historically significant buildings or resources, whether in Coral Gables, New York, Los Angeles, or beyond. Bruce was an early advocate for saving, from the brink of demolition, the 1970s brutalist-style Public Safety Building on Salzedo Street (see Talk of the Town).
Bruce was a native New Yorker who moved to Coral Gables 25 years ago. He studied architecture at Georgia Tech and graduated from Columbia University. He was a co-founder of Miami-based Evans & Fitzgerald Advertising and was the proud owner of two historically designated homes in the Gables. He was a long-time member of the Historic Preservation Association of Coral Gables (HPACG) for which he designed the organization’s iconic logo, taking its visual cue from one of the signature decorative components of 1920s architecture – the handmade tiles that graced the walls, floors, doorways, stairways, and fountains of Mediterranean Revival-style homes in Florida, especially Coral Gables and Palm Beach. When the logo was unveiled, he remarked: “At HPACG, the past is always present. It is part of our mission to protect and preserve the buildings and monuments in Coral Gables that best exemplify our collective history.” At the time of his passing, Bruce served as vice president of the HPACG board of directors.
Bruce was also the co-author of a new book, “Coral Gables: The Moderns,” which documents the city’s distinctive modern buildings, circa 1960 – 1980. “What a long road we have traveled together to end up here, with an actual book to show for our efforts,” he told me recently. “And a pretty good book at that. Who’d a thunk it!”
Donations in honor of Bruce Fitzgerald may be given to the Historic Preservation Association of Coral Gables, P.O. Box 347944, Coral Gables, FL 33234, or online at paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/122201