Maxine Mitchell
Maxine Mitchell was a beloved fencing champion. She won the US National Women’s Foil title 4 times and competed at 4 Olympic Games. In 1952 in Helsinki, she finished in a 4 way tie for the Bronze medal.
After touches were counted, she wound up in 5th place. At the 1956 Melbourne Games, she tore a tendon in her right elbow at the end of her first round pool in which she was undefeated.
In agony, she lost all her bouts in the next round and was eliminated. The following season, she switched to fencing with her left hand and was still able to make the finals at Nationals, winning her A rating. She is the only fencer known to have an A rating with both hands.
Articles
August and Everything After
I’ll say up front that I’m sick of my desk and computer. I still spend long parts of my day here, but motivation to string my thoughts together in a coherent way have been sparse.
Women’s Foil, circa 1971
The 1971 US National Championships were held on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, commonly known as Cal. The locals did pretty well, too!
Historical Holiday
Driving around Southern California may not seem like much of a Holiday, especially when traveling alone, but a recent weekend outmatched all my expectations. The plan was to make four different stops in hopes of collecting fencing history.
A Newfound Respect
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.
The Salle in the Woods
In the woods of Southern Oregon off a dirt road and across a valley from the winding I-5 was a fencing salle d’armes built by Charlie Selberg in an old barn. It was stuffed to the rafters with fencing memorabilia dating back decades.
The Little Woman With The Big Briefcase
Tommy Angell was the type of person who overcame obstacles. It doesn’t seem to matter how challenging things may have been; she simply took them on and beat them. Not just took them on; she seems to have sought them out and demolished them.
Mystery To Me
The mystery to me today is fencing master John Mckee from Southern California who trained hundreds and hundreds of fencers over decades. For all the people he taught and all the times he was in the paper, it’s his nature and character that I can’t get a handle on.
Historical Documents in the Digital Age
Fear. It’s a motivator for me. Not the average, everyday kind of fear, nor an amorphous fear of zombies or clowns. Rather, the fear of loss. A very specific kind of loss.
Jan vs Maxine
We’re back at the 1958 Pacific Coast Championships. This time out, we’ve got the Women’s Foil Finals, pitting Olympic teammates Janice Lee York-Romary against Maxine Mitchell.
Photo Gallery
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