Peter Westbrook
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| Born |
16 April 1952 Newark, New Jersey, United States |
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| Height | 5'9" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Fencing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Peter Westbrook (born April 16, 1952) is an American former sabre fencing champion, active businessman and founder of the Peter Westbrook Foundation.
As a former U.S. champion and Olympic medalist, Peter Westbrook came to fencing from an unlikely direction, the inner city. Westbrook's career began with his Japanese mother, who convinced him to try fencing.
While nearing retirement, Westbrook founded the Peter Westbrook Foundation (PWF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit that uses fencing as a vehicle in developing life and academic skills for young people from underserved communities of New York City.
Westbrook's father, Ulysses, was a G.I. stationed in Japan during the Korean War; when he met Mariko, a Japanese woman from a sheltered home. Soon after their marriage they returned to the United States, traveling first to St. Louis, Missouri and eventually settling in Newark, NJ, where Peter and his younger sister Vivian were born. Peter’s earliest memories are of frequent bouts of domestic violence.
Peter was 4 when his father left, leaving his mother to raise the family with no real skills or outside means of support. Through a series of jobs, working in a factory and as a maid, she provided for her children. Mariko bartered with priests at the local Catholic school (St. Peters/Queen of Angels) in exchange for schooling for Peter and Vivian.
Harassed by the other children because of his mixed race and taught by his mother to “not cry, to work hard, to be ethical, and to fight to achieve our goals; And if we should survive the fight, she said, we should get up and fight some more,” the young Peter Westbrook became a very good fighter. His fencing career started at fencing powerhouse Essex Catholic High School, only because of his mother’s $5.00 bribe. Mariko knew that fencing would keep Peter out of trouble and, if he had any ability, bring him into contact with people who would expose him to a different world that the one he had been born into.
Under the tutelage of Dr. Samuel D’ambola, a medical doctor and the founder of the Essex High School fencing program, Peter’s talent was discovered and nurtured. In this supportive environment, despite experiencing some incidents of racism, he excelled.
Recognizing his innate abilities, Dr. D’ambola started Peter with the sabre; a military sword with a distinctive-look. Used predominantly as a cutting and slashing weapon. Young Peter was thrilled to be training on a sword that childhood hero, Zorro, also used
“I quickly became attached to sabre fencing…[it] satisfied my constant need to be quick with everything I did. Fencing was just like street boxing, only not as brutal. And here was a kind of fighting that my mother not only allowed, but actually encouraged.” [Harnessing Anger, pg 33] Thanks to a rigorous training program from 3:00 to 6:00 pm every day after school, young Peter was kept off the street and out of trouble. His skill and talent were rewarded with numerous wins and by his senior year he was the best fencer for a high school team that rarely lost a match.
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