Peter Jonathan Westbrook (April 16, 1952 – November 29, 2024) was an American saber fencer. He was a 13-time national and 3-time

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

saber champion, five-time Olympian, and an Olympic

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

ist. He founded the Peter Westbrook Foundation (PWF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit that uses fencing as a vehicle to help young people from under-served New York City communities develop life and academic skills. Westbrook died on November 29, 2024 in Manhattan, New York from

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

. He was 72 years old.

Early life and education

Westbrook's father, Ulysses Jonathan Westbrook, was an American

G.I. G.I. is an informal term that refers to "a soldier in the United States armed forces, especially the army". It is most deeply associated with World War II, but continues to see use. It was originally an initialism used in U.S. Army paperwork f ...

stationed in Japan during the Allied occupation of Japan after World War II when he met Mariko Wado-Westbrook, a Japanese woman, in the city of

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

.Bill Duryea (January 11, 1998)
""En garde' AGAINST THE GHETTO,"
''Tampa Bay Times''. They married in 1950, and soon after they moved to the United States, eventually settling in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

. Peter and his younger sister Vivian were born in the United States, Peter in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. Peter was four when his father left, leaving his mother to raise the family in the Hayes Homes

housing project Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

in central Newark. She remained in Newark, given her Japanese relatives’ objection to her returning to Japan with Black children. Raising the children

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, Mariko bartered with priests at the local

parochial school A parochial school is a private school, private Primary school, primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathem ...

( St. Peters/Queen of Angels) in exchange for schooling for Peter and Vivian, cleaning the church and assisting on bingo night. His mother, 66 years old at the time, was killed in December 1993. After she offered friendly advice while on a Newark bus to a 31-year-old, 200-plus pound, fellow female passenger with regard to the young child the woman was traveling with, the woman became angry at her, cursed her, told her to mind her own business, and then pummeled and kicked her to death."16-Year Sentence for Beating,"
''The New York Times''.Evelyn Nieves (March 22, 1994)

''The New York Times''. Peter Westbrook said: "I have never known such sadness". Her attacker pled guilty to aggravated

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

, and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Fencing career

High school

Westbrook's fencing career started at

Essex Catholic High School Essex Catholic Boys High School (formally known as Bishop Francis Essex Catholic High School after 2000) was a four-year Catholic high school located in Newark and East Orange, in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The high school ...

('70) in Newark, when he was 13 years old, after his mother enrolled him in fencing to keep him out of trouble. He trained under Dr. Samuel D'Ambola, a medical doctor and the founder of the school’s fencing program, winning a New Jersey state individual championship in his junior year.

College

Westbrook attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

's Leonard N. Stern School of Business, where he received a B.S. in Marketing in 1975. He received a full fencing scholarship, and trained under Hugo Castello, the multi-championship-winning coach who as of 1998 held the most wins of any college fencing coach in history."New Jersey Sports,"
''The New York Times'', August 11, 1973. In 1972, he began training with Csaba Elthes, a Hungarian saber coach who had emigrated to the United States, at the

Fencers Club The Fencers Club in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, is the oldest fencing club in the Western Hemisphere. It is a member of the Metropolitan Division of the U.S. Fencing Association. Established in 1883, it has evolved into a 501(c)(3) not-for- ...

in New York City, but he stopped training with him after one year. He initially found Elthes to be intimidating, saying: "Csaba's theory is discipline with pain. Never a compliment, usually belittlement. I was stunned." It went beyond unkind words: "I thought he was crazy. Then he started hitting me in the legs with his sabre every time I made a mistake, and I was wearing short pants, too. He said, 'I want you to associate mistakes with pain.` And then, whack, whack, whack. Right across the thighs. Then I knew he was crazy.""FENCERS DEAL FEAR A MORTAL WOUND ,"
''New York Daily News'', August 8, 2021. In 1973, he won the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

saber championship, and the NYU team won the team championship. Recognizing that his short time with Csaba had been beneficial, Westbrook returned to Csaba; as he recalled, "after a year, it just wasn`t the same. I knew I needed him. I couldn`t believe it, but I did."

National championships

Westbrook won the U.S. National Men's Sabre Championship 13 times (1974–75, 1979–86, 1988–89, and 1995). In 1974, as a college senior, Westbrook placed first at the

Amateur Fencers League of America The Amateur Fencers League of America (AFLA) was founded on April 22, 1891, in New York City by a group of fencers seeking independence from the Amateur Athletic Union. As early as 1940, the AFLA was recognized by the Fédération Internationale ...

's (now known as USA Fencing) National Championships, beating among others Olympians Alex Orban and Paul Apostol. He was the first black fencer to win the U.S. men's saber national championship. Winning the Nationals made him an internationally recognized fencer.

Pan American Games

Westbrook competed at the

from 1975-95, winning 11 medals (three of them gold medals)."Peter Westbrook,"
Olympics.com. In 1975, Westbrook won a team

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

and an individual

at the

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. In 1979, he won a Pan American Games team silver medal. These wins were soon accompanied by his 1983 individual

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

and team silver medal. From 1987 to 1995, Westbrook won additional silver medals for individual performance (1987), two silver medals for team performance (1987, 1991), and gold medals for individual and team performances (1995).

Olympics

In 1976, Westbrook competed in his first

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

; thereafter, he was part of every Team USA Olympic fencing team through 1996 (the US chose not to compete in 1980). During pre-competition sparring with a European fencer at the

1976 Montreal Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal w ...

, Westbrook tore two

ligament A ligament is a type of fibrous connective tissue in the body that connects bones to other bones. It also connects flight feathers to bones, in dinosaurs and birds. All 30,000 species of amniotes (land animals with internal bones) have liga ...

s in his left ankle. He ended the competition ranked 13th. At the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

, Westbrook won a bronze medal, and was the first American to win an Olympic fencing medal since Al Axelrod won a bronze medal in

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

in 1960. He also became the first African American and Asian American to win a medal in fencing. Westbrook served as

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a colour-bearer or flag-bearer, is a person who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...

for the closing ceremonies of the 1992 Olympic Games in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain.

Peter Westbrook Foundation

The PWF Elite Athlete Program

Following his competitive fencing career, Westbrook founded and served as CEO of the Peter Westbrook Foundation (PWF), a non-profit that uses fencing as a vehicle to help young people from under-served New York City communities develop life and academic skills. Notable fencers trained by the foundation who have represented the United States at the Olympics include Akhi Spencer-El,

Benjamin Bratton Benjamin Bratton (born June 18, 1985) is a three-time fencing all-American and a former member of the United States fencing team. As a national team member, he competed in the 2006 World Fencing Championships in Turin, Italy; the 2009 World Fe ...

, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Daryl Homer,

Curtis McDowald Curtis McDowald (born January 23, 1996) is an American épée fencing, fencer. He competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics. McDowald is currently on a temporary suspension issue by USA Fencing in November 2023 pending investigation. Early life McD ...

, Khalil Thompson, and Lauren Scruggs, who won a foil team gold medal and an individual silver medal in the

2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. In 2000, the foundation was represented internationally for the first time when Ahki Spencer-el, Keeth Smart, and Keeth Smart's sister Erinn Smart qualified for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia. In 2004 four of the foundation’s fencers, Keeth Smart, Erinn Smart, Kamara James, and

Ivan Lee Ivan James Lee (born March 31, 1981) is an American former Olympic sabre fencer and coach. He was a two-time NCAA Men's Sabre Champion, a five-time national sabre champion, and was inducted into the List of USFA Hall of Fame members, US Fencin ...

represented the United States in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Greece. In 2008, Keeth Smart and Erinn Smart represented the United States in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China, and both returned home with a silver medal. Ivan Lee won 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008 saber U.S. national championships. Keeth Smart won the 2002 and 2004 national saber championship titles and was ranked # 1 in the world in saber in 2003 (the first-ever American to hold this rank). Erinn Smart won the 1998, 2002, 2004, 2007, and 2008 women's foil national championships, and Kamara James was ranked # 1 in the world in women's épée in 2004. Over 4,000 fencers, including 16 Olympians (five of whom won medals), began fencing at the foundation, which placed athletes on every U.S. Olympic team from the 2000 Sydney Games through the 2024 Paris Games.

The PWF Academic Enrichment Program

The Peter Westbrook Foundation Academic Enrichment Program provides one-on-one tutorial support, literacy assistance,

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

, PSAT, and specialized high school exam preparation, along with group workshops and productivity seminars on core academic skills, time management, motivational techniques, and homework habits. From October through June, students and tutors meet for 6 to 12 hours each month and students receive extra academic support.

Writing

In 1997, Westbrook published his memoir
''Harnessing Anger: The Way of an American Fencer''
in which he described turning his childhood experiences into a drive to succeed at his sport, and the inception of the Peter Westbrook Foundation. In ''Harnessing Anger'', Westbrook told how he came to be the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to win a national gold title in sabre fencing, along with his reaching international levels of success. Westbrook described how as the son of an African-American father and a Japanese mother, he was aided by his mother alone in poverty in a Newark ghetto. Becoming a fencer at an early age gave him the confidence and the discipline to use an ancient

martial art Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the pres ...

to his advantage, both in

swordplay Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to an ...

and when facing the vicissitudes of daily life in the inner city. ''Harnessing Anger: The Way of an American Fencer'' (1997) was nominated by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

for its Book of the Year Award.

Death

Westbrook died from

at a hospital in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, New York, on November 29, 2024, at the age of 72.

Halls of Fame

Westbrook was inducted into the Essex Catholic High School Hall of Fame in 1981, and the

Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985. He was inducted into the USFA Hall of Fame in 1996. He was also inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame of New Jersey in 2002, and into the Newark Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2021, he was inducted into the

International Sports Hall of Fame The International Sports Hall of Fame (ISHOF) is a section 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 2012 by Dr. Robert M. Goldman to honor exceptional athletes and sporting figures for their accomplishments and dedication to furthering ...

. He was also inducted as a member into the FIE Hall of Fame."Peter Westbrook,"
FIE.

References

External links