Skip Shurtz
Sewall “Skip” Shurtz was born in Texas and raised in Hollywood by his single stage-parent mother. Very poor, Skip’s grandmother did the cleaning at Ralph Faulkner’s Falcon Studios in exchange for Ralph giving lessons to the youngster. Lessons began when Sewall was about 5 years old. His mother put him in dance classes and acting classes, taking him all over town from audition to audition. His entire acting career consisted of numerous bit parts and a couple of small roles in features that proved not very popular. Fortunately, his fencing career took off while he was still in his teens.
READ MORE...He won numerous tournaments all over the West Coast, including a three-weapon sweep of the Pacific Coast Championships. The National epee title came in 1954, followed by the 1956 National title in foil. A member of the 1955 World Championship team, Sewall made the semi-finals in the foil event. His 1956 Olympic berth was marred by his removal from the individual foil event by the team captain over a lingering dispute over Skip’s behavior at an earlier event in Canada.
The foil team, powered by Sewall and Albie Axelrod, finished in fourth place, missing a medal by just a few touches. Skip retired from competition within a couple of years after that Olympic experience and took up the sword later in life as a coach. His philosophy was simple, saying “I can only teach what The Boss (Ralph Faulkner) taught me.”
Articles
One Hour
I first became aware of Mr. Biagini as a young fencer, as he would invariably show up at tournaments at the Pannonia Athletic Club, back when it was still a going concern in San Francisco.
Gifts and Acquisitions
It’s been a bit since our last update and I will say from the get-go here that we’ll have a pretty big announcement coming soon to this page, but not yet. Not yet.
Let’s Review!
I like statistics. Not the kind you learn about in school really. More the kind that come about when you ask yourself questions like, “When will I get THAT done?” and “How many Aldo Nadi stories did I write last year?”
‘Tis the Season
Giorgio Santelli’s 1949 holiday card The first year of the West Coast Fencing Archive’s website is drawing to a close, so I thought I’d share some holiday cheer and a few thanks and thoughts. First, many thanks to my partner-in-history, Mark Headley, who also heads up...
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.
Where have we been?
Where Have We Been? What a crazy bunch of weeks! It may still take a bit to get back up to speed with regular stories, but the reason will hopefully be made clear as I describe recent events. First, Nationals. That would be the US Fencing National Championships,...
Maxine
It’s interesting, writing stories about people who you never knew well. I knew Maxine well enough to recognize her when she walked into a tournament. She was always wearing a USA sweat suit of an older vintage. Even as a newbie fencer, you could recognize the respect given by those around you to someone who had
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