CPS Fencing teacher retires at age 90

Arthur Lane teaching fencing on the CPS campus.

Arthur Lane, beloved fencing instructor, turns 90 years old on Wednesday, September 20th and announced that this year will be his last at The College Preparatory School.  Arthur has decided to pursue writing fiction. The College Preparatory School has declared Wednesday, September 20th, Arthur Lane Day, to allow his colleagues and students a chance to honor him and celebrate his career at school.

Arthur lane started fencing in 1935 after being introduced to the sport by a friend, and that led to his reading books on the subject and finding a professional fencing master, Erich Funke, who taught in the Bay Area.  Soon he was entering tournaments sponsored by the Amateur Fencers League of America (now the US Fencing Association).  Arthur became Erich's assistant at the Funke Fencing Academy in San Francisco and in 1940 began teaching on his own in Berkeley. After four years of military service, 1942-1946, Arthur became fencing coach at UC Berkeley. After some years in the import business, and a five-year term at The Asia Foundation in the sixties, Arthur returned to teach fencing at various Bay Area schools and joined CPS in 1981. He instilled the passion for fencing in many students over the years, some of whom went on to achieve national ranking in the US Fencing Association. "Fencing has the answer: in the thrusting game, with foil or dueling sword, a diminutive young person can deflect a muscular giant's thrust with ease," states Arthur Lane. "Blades and bodies move with thrust, parry, and riposte as the game develops.  True fencing is both mental and physical." 

"With gratitude, we wish Arthur Lane the best in his next career.  He has been a stalwart member of our faculty for 25 years.  That's 25 years after his first retirement.  We wish him an equally long career as a writer," states Murray Cohen, Head of School.