by Doug Nichols | Mar 2, 2021 | Baker, Jack, Blog Post, Brownlee, Laurance, Coaches, Coaches F - J, Fencers, Fencers A - E, Funke, Erich, Halberstadt, Hans, Piller, George |
Some interesting pieces of memorabilia got floated in front of me and I had to scramble to collect all the loose change under the floor mats in my car and count out pennies from the change jar, but I couldn’t resist making a deal for them. Many thanks go to...
by Doug Nichols | Aug 3, 2020 | Blog Post, Brownlee, Laurance, Coaches, Coaches F - J, Coaches K - O, Fencers, Fencers A - E, Halberstadt, Hans, McDougall, John, Nadi, Aldo, O'Brien, William |
Serendipitous. Is that a word? Spellcheck isn’t trying to correct it, so I guess I’m on firm ground. Serendipitosity happens a lot around here. I find one piece of information, an image, a packet of photos. Time passes. I find another piece that fits...
by Doug Nichols | Jul 13, 2020 | Angell, Tommy, Blog Post, Brownlee, Laurance, Coaches, Coaches A - E, Coaches F - J, Coaches K - O, Coaches U - Z, De Jong, Duris, Fencers, Fencers A - E, Fencers F - J, Halberstadt, Hans, Huddleson, Demi, Mori, Torao, Vince, Joseph |
When I struggle with ideas for writing about fencing history for this site, I have a couple of favorite fallback topics. If you’ve been reading for awhile, you can probably guess most of them. Aldo Nadi, Helene Mayer, Hans Halberstadt. All three of those...
by Doug Nichols | Oct 21, 2019 | Blog Post, Brownlee, Laurance, Coaches, Coaches A - E, Coaches P - T, D'Asaro, Michael, Fencers, Fencers A - E, Northern California, San Jose State University, Schools/Clubs, Selberg, Charles |
It’s like fate or an inexorable draw. Or karma. That might be too strong. But if you’re named Michael D’Asaro, you eventually move to Texas. Maybe it’s the bbq. That would be the last entry on the ‘go’ side of my go/no go...
by Doug Nichols | Oct 14, 2019 | Angell, Tommy, Baker, Jack, Blog Post, Brownlee, Laurance, Coaches, Coaches A - E, Coaches F - J, Coaches P - T, D'Asaro, Michael, Fencers, Fencers A - E, Fencers K - O, Halberstadt, Hans, Mitchell, Maxine, Northern California, Pannonia Athletic Club, Piller, George, Schools/Clubs |
It’s so much fun to have your expectations and assumptions blown to bits. That happened to me this week when I had the great fortune to meet the daughter of long-time Letterman fencer Colonel Laurance Brownlee. Colonel Brownlee was a fixture of West Coast...
by Doug Nichols | Oct 7, 2019 | Blog Post, Brownlee, Laurance, Coaches, Coaches F - J, Coaches K - O, Fencers, Fencers A - E, Funke, Erich, Halberstadt, Hans, O'Brien, William |
The founder and long-time fencing master at The Letterman Fencers Club was Dr. William O’Brien. The club’s home was a gymnasium in San Francisco’s Presidio, a windy patch of green near the southern foot of the Golden Gate Bridge. In a very real...
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