Duvall Young Hecht (April 23, 1930 – February 10, 2022) was an American competition

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

and Olympic champion.

Biography

Hecht was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He received a gold medal in the ''pair without coxswain'' (with James Fifer) at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Hecht founded

Books on Tape A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ...

, Inc. in 1975. He had the idea for the service while commuting from his banking job in downtown Los Angeles to his house in Newport Beach, a commute of one hour each way. He later sold the company to

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

. Before that, he obtained a master's degree in Journalism from Stanford University and was a pilot in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. After receiving his master's degree, Hecht went on to teach English at

Menlo College Menlo College is a private college specializing in business and is located in Atherton, California. Campus Menlo College is situated on 45-acre (0.18 km2) campus in Atherton, California, 25 miles southeast of San Francisco and 20 miles nort ...

in Atherton, California. While at Menlo, Hecht established Menlo's first rowing club where he was head coach until he moved to Southern California. Hecht established the rowing team at University of California, Irvine in 1965. Later he went on to coach the rowing team of UCLA before coming back to Irvine in the 1990s. Hecht once again returned as the head coach of the men's varsity rowing program at UCI in the fall of 2008. After selling

in 2001, he also pursued a career as a long-haul truck driver. Hecht died at his home in Costa Mesa on February 10, 2022, at the age of 91.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hecht, Duvall 1930 births 2022 deaths Olympic gold medalists for the United States in rowing Rowers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Stanford Cardinal rowers American male rowers Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Los Angeles Military personnel from California United States Marines