Thank you Chris. Thanks for that introduction. I can't think of anyone better than you to introduce me for this award. You and I have shared a life together through fencing and I would never have become the fencer I am today without you. We've had so many matches and been on so many teams together, you are such a large part of my fencing life. I haven't kept count since we first met 35 years ago but I'm pretty sure you've beaten me more than I've beaten you… But we're not done yet!
Thanks to Andy Shaw and the Fencing Hall of Fame committee for all of their hard work in keeping the memory of American fencing alive so that all of these great fencers from the past won't be forgotten. I'm truly honored to be invited to stand beside them.
There are quite a few other people I would like to thank as well. First of all is my fellow inductee, my old coach who taught me so much about fencing and life. For my very first épée lesson, he stepped over to me and held the point up close to my face and said, 'You see this? This is the only thing that matters in épée fencing. Put this on the target, before your opponent does and you'll do OK.' I was 14 years old when I walked into the Alcazar Fencing Club and met Bill Reith. Bill had already created so many great fencers at his club, so I was very lucky to be in that environment where victory and excellence were just the way it was done.
Jackie Robinson said you can measure the value of someone's life by the effect they have on others. By that measure Bill has led an extraordinary life and has much to be proud of and he certainly deserves his place in this Hall of Fame.
And aside from fencing, another of Bill's many talents is photography. He took those amazing pictures in the slide show you all saw that were snapped right at the moment of the touch. They are some of the best fencing photographs I have ever seen.
I'd also like to thank my other coach Aladar Kogler, who is already in the hall of fame. In my opinion, as well as that of many others, he's one of the greatest coaches in the world and the list of champion fencers who were his students, in all three weapons, is a big part of the history of American fencing. I was truly privileged to work with Aladar for as long as I did, 15 years of solid training. He taught me the science of fencing, the classical Hungarian technique which has been so important for my fencing success. Fifteen years of fencing with, on average, three lessons a week is 2250 lessons. With so many lessons from such a great coach, I would have no excuse not to become a good fencer.
And I must thank my family too. My mother, who is no longer with us, but who thought I should stop watching so much television when I was a kid and looked for something more worthwhile for her son to do. She found a local fencing club and drove me there across town to check it out. She moved heaven and earth to make it possible for me to keep fencing.
My father, my greatest fan, is here. He accompanied me to many competitions and he got to see me win a few National titles, and qualify for an Olympic Team. For some reason, I always did better when he was cheering for me. One thing to know about my father, he is one of the most extroverted persons you'll ever meet. I'm sure many people in the room tonight have already made his acquaintance. In 1992, at the National Championships I qualified for the Olympic team and afterwards, my father and I, and a few friends were in a restaurant. And of course my father is so proud of his son that he gets up in the middle of the restaurant to make an announcement in a loud booming voice about what his son had just accomplished, which at the time, to an introvert like me, was more than a little embarrassing, but in hindsight, it's one of the many memories that I'll treasure. And I'm happy that I could make you proud.
To my wife Jae, and my children, Nicholas and Victoria, who couldn't make the trip here tonight, I want to thank you as well. Thank you for your patience and understanding when once in awhile I sneak away to a fencing practice or a tournament. Know, that when I'm away from home, whether for an evening, or a few days out of town, I always ask myself, what am I doing? Why aren't I with my family. But know that even though I love fencing, you'll always be first in my heart.
I've had a very long career and I've fenced many great fencers. A few of them are here tonight. And I wish to thank them as well. Rob Stull, who's also on the program tonight, is another one of my arch nemeses who through this sport has become a friend. Too many times, I faced Rob for a single touch in sudden death overtime in a championship bout, which just isn't a good place to be versus a Modern Pentathlete.
Steve Trevor, another of Bill and Aladar's champions, I want to thank you not only for putting up with me when I was young and maybe a bit immature but also for helping me out when I was first stepping onto the National team. I think you saw in me more potential than I did in myself and you showed me I was closer to that next level than I realized.
Wilbur Wheeler, Mark Griffen, Kevin Hunter, and Peter Ciemins, 4 more of my old Alcazar teammates. Thanks for all those memories. Our youth was truly priceless.
It's a rare opportunity to get to speak in these circumstances, so if you'll indulge me I'll give some of my thoughts on this sport we all love. In fencing we salute our opponent before we begin and we shake hands afterwards. It's one of the first things we learn when we start to fence and I think there are some profound lessons here. Why do we salute? To show that we respect our opponents. No matter who they are, what their skill level is, where they came from, we promise to take them seriously, to give them our full attention, to show that we think they have value. I'd say that's the definition of the word, respect.
And then we shake hands. Why do we do that? To thank our opponent, because you can't fence alone, you need your opponent, you need a partner to create that magic that happens on the strip. For this reason, I'll also give my thanks to the thousands of fencers I've met on the fencing strip in my life who've made me the fencer and the man that I am. All those bouts and those fencers, all those special human beings have given me the chance to look into a mirror and see what kind of person I am and in the process, hopefully, to make myself a better person.
I'm giving my speech tonight, but I'd like to mention another induction speech for a different award. In 1950, William Faulkner received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Even though he spoke about writing and art, I think what he said has relevance for sports and athletics. In his acceptance speech he talked about how the artist has a responsibility to create things of beauty that will carry mankind forward — how by reminding humanity of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and sacrifice which have been the glory of our past, the artist's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.
So what has that to do with fencing? I say the athlete is also an artist and that through hard work and dedication can create things of beauty, that can inspire others, and make life more worthwhile. That's perhaps a strange way to talk about a martial art like fencing, with its roots in violence. But today, with that violence stripped away, we have a sport in which you can find all of those things of which William Faulkner spoke; courage, honor, hope, pride, compassion, and sacrifice. Faulkner said that art provided a crystallized view of the essential experience of what it means to be a human being. The great artist can strip away all of the distractions of ordinary existence and leave the core, the essence, the soul of truth and beauty. Faulkner did it in his novels, Michelangelo did it with his sculptures, Shakespeare did it with his plays.
And I say Kolobkov and Srecki did it in their match in the world championships in 1997! And Taglioriaol and Jeannet did it in their Olympic match in 2008! Through their genius they reached a level of perfection that made their fencing a work of art.
So I've mentioned a few of the titans of our sport, and I count myself blessed to have been saluted by some of these fencers, and to have shaken their hands. But even at my level, I think back and I can remember a few extraordinary matches, a few with some of the people in this room, that in hindsight, amazed me that I could have done what I did, where the conscious mind steps aside and leaves the spirit to move the body. On those occasions, in those superlative fencing matches that I've been a part of, win or lose, I felt that I helped make the world become a little bit more beautiful. And for this I'm grateful to my competitors, my coaches, and my family to have made it possible. So thank you all. Thank you very much.
And thank you for indulging me by listening to these thoughts on fencing. I admit I have an ulterior motive. It's to motivate you all to fence. If you haven't tried it, then start. If you have, then never stop fencing, never stop trying to create those beautiful moments that once made you will never forget. So I will make a gentle challenge to you all to join me on this journey. Fencing is life. Fencing is love. Why stop? Thank you.