This year’s Ashbrook Cup is awarded jointly to Dr. Yamil H. Kouri, Jr. and Theron J. Wierenga for their Chronicle article titled “The Havana Markings of Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, Used on Incoming Steamship Mail.”
His first article was published in 1982; so far, he has written nearly 100 articles that have appeared in half a dozen philatelic journals. He wrote The Postal History of Spanish New Orleans, a book that was published in 2004, and has several others in preparation.
Since 1996 Dr. Kouri has been the editor of The Cuban Philatelist and is currently the president of the Cuban Philatelic Society of America. He belongs to more than a dozen philatelic societies and organizations, and is an elected member of the Spanish Academy of Philately.
His principal collecting interests include Cuba, maritime mails, Spanish colonial mail, U.S. ship mail, British post offices abroad and U.S. military postal stations. He is married and lives with his family in the Boston area, where he works as an oncologist and hematologist.
These endeavors have earned Theron many of this Society’s Cup Awards over the years, including the Chase Cup in 1972, the Perry Cup in 2000, and an unprecedented three wins of the Ashbrook Cup in 1983, 1988 and now in 2005.
Gary has been a stamp collector since a very early age, but like most collectors laid the hobby aside while he attended college, married and began a family. By the early 1970s he returned to collecting, focusing on U.S. classics and Great Britain, as well as postal history.
By the 1990s, Gary decided to specialize in the 3¢ stamps produced by Toppan, Carpenter, Casilear & Co in the decade preceding the Civil War. He looked to Wilson Hulme and Bill Amonette as his mentors in this field and found his interest constantly stimulated by his association with the 1851-57 Study Group. An initial article on the short “TA” of POSTAGE in one position that appeared after plate wear prompted the series of articles for which he is being honored.
Gary received a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois. He married his high school sweetheart, Mitsy; they live in Carversville PA and have three sons and two grandsons.
While working for a petrochemical technology company, Gary attended law school, graduating at the head of his class with a JD degree. In 1998 he retired as CEO of Angus Chemical Company, ending a 33 year career in the petrochemical industry.
He is a member of the American Philatelic Society and the Royal Philatelic Society London, as well as the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society.
Bill Mooz has become the Society’s expert on the United States special printing program that began in 1875. His interest in this subject was triggered when he obtained a copy of Admiral Vince Combs’ monograph in 1970. Prior to that time Bill was a stamp collector; focusing on this specialty made him a philatelist. Along the way he has received the Earl P. L. Apfelbaum Memorial Award (1986), and our own Neinken Award twice, in 1992 and 1993.
According to Bill, not the least of his benefits were the many friends he has acquired. These included Bob Lewenthal, Sam Kharash, David Chassey and Leonard Sherrif, as well as Admiral Combs, who was his mentor and close friend for more than 20 years.
Not many of our members realize that Bill worked as the West Coast agent of the legendary Ezra Cole for many years.
Despite the award of this year’s Perry Cup for his long series of notably informative articles on the special printings that have appeared in The Chronicle as well as The American Philatelist, Bill believes he has only scratched the surface thus far and looks forward to sharing with us his further discoveries in the future.
Keiji (“KG” to all that met him), more than any individual, was responsible for getting the current core group of 3¢ 1851-57 collectors together and regularly sharing information. As a result there has been major progress in understanding early perforations and in plating the Type II stamps.
He was a former Director of The U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, previous winner of the Mortimer Neinken award for distinguished research, a world-class plater, and our good friend.
KG was a catalyst. Several world-class collectors have said that Keiji is the reason they got interested in studying the 3¢ perforated stamp or that Keiji was the one responsible for bringing them into the hobby. In Tom Alexander’s words, “It amazes me how a person like KG can impact so many lives- all for the good. He really will be missed by everyone in the Classics Society who watched him (almost single handedly at first) revive interest in our favorite stamp and its postal history.”
He was a brilliant analyst and problem solver. KG believed that the key to solving complex issues was to widely share information. He gathered a group of 3¢ 1851-57 collectors and got them focused on unanswered philatelic questions. Mark Rogers comments are typical, “I can’t count the hours I spent on the phone with KG. Seems like almost every night for a very long time…”
KG’s initiative and efforts are in keeping with the highest ideals of The U.S. Philatelic Classics Society.
The recipient of the Mortimer L. Neinken Award for the 2004 volume (Volume 56) is Gary W. Granzow for his article on “The Plates of the 1851-57 3¢ Stamps of the United States,” which appeared in three installments in Chronicle No. 202-204 (March, August and November 2004), pp. 122-33, 194-209 and 255-67.
Gary Granzow has provided an exceptional monographa comprehensive, definitive re-examination of the printing of the 3¢ 1851-57 stamps, including their 1857-60 perforated varieties, which considerably revises established wisdom and serves as a new standard reference to these stamps. As his introduction accurately relates, the study corrects “published misconceptions of the process used in the mid-Nineteenth Century to manufacture postage stamp plates . . .,” revises our understanding of the early plate hardening process, significantly revises upward (by nearly 20%) Dr. Carroll Chase’s original estimates of the number of impressions of the first nine plates, even more drastically upgrades Chase’s estimates of the number of impressions of the perforated stamps, and presents convincing arguments concerning the history of Plate 3, the unnumbered “Plate 0” and the second unnumbered plate which later re-appeared as Plate 5.
The article draws heavily on archival research, review of the evolution of engraving on steel from a metallurgical and methodological perspective, exhaustive study of the stamps themselves and analysis and extrapolation of a number of extensive data bases, as well as close collaboration with fellow 3¢ enthusiasts. It not only stands as an indispensable reference for this specific stamp, it bears careful reading for its relevance to the entire 1851-57 issue. This is a magnificent addition to the library of U.S. classic philately, and is most deserving of the Mortimer L. Neinken Award.
The recipient of the Susan M. McDonald Award for the 2004 volume (Vol. 56) is David D’Alessandris for his article on “Boston to St. John Steamboat Mail,” which appeared in Chronicle #201-203 (February, May and July 2004), pages 8-20, 109-16 and 167-86.
David accepting his award from Charlie Peterson.This article deals comprehensively with the postal history microcosm of mail service on scheduled steamboats between Boston and St. John, New Brunswick, from the mid-1840s to the Confederation of Canada on July 1, 1867. It starts with a thorough review of the Boston – St. John steamboat service. It then treats each of the express companies which provided mail service on that route Ð Hale & Co., Gunnison’s Express, Favor’s Express and others Ð followed by the USPOD’s steamboat letter mail service. It abounds with detail, including a table listing the steamboat letter carrier appointments and a full schedule of the Boston Ð St. John steamboat service, 1841-67, and is richly illustrated. It’s exceptional in its thoroughness, as well as in its readability, and in both subject matter and treatment is an apt recipient of the Susan M. McDonald award.
Pat met her husband W. Danforth (Dan) Walker at a U.S. national show in Newark, NJ, in 1979 when they were both taking down their exhibits. Dan was exhibiting his traditional Grenada for the first time; Pat was a seasoned exhibitor, having shown Irish postal history for the third time; they both won silver medals. They were married in 1982; the wedding cake was decorated with postal markings representing items in their collections.
With Dan’s encouragement, Pat began to participate in organized philately. She is a member of the Eire Philatelic Association, and served two terms as president in the late 1980s. She is a life member of the American Philatelic Society, where she served two terms on the Board of Vice-Presidents, and remains active at the national committee level. Pat has also held key offices in the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors and the Maryland Postal History Society, is a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London, and a member of the Collectors Club and several other societies. She has been notably active in the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, and served as an officer from 1990-2004 – as Secretary, subsequently as Vice-President, and ultimately as its President.
Pat became accredited as a national philatelic judge in 1985, and as an international judge in 1990 Ð accredited initially for youth, and accredited in 1993 for postal history. She is actively involved as a member of the BALPEX show committee.
Pat has two primary exhibits: Her exhibit of Ireland Postal History was awarded the Grand Prix National at Stamp Show 2000, London, and a Large Gold with Special Prize at the Espana 2004 exhibition in Valencia; her showing of Baltimore Postal History has won several national Grand Awards, and achieved a Large Gold with Special Prize at Bangkok 2003.
Pat holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, Magna cum laude, from Vassar College. She recently retired from over 30 years with IBM as a computer software specialist.
For her exceptional service to U.S. philately, including her past contributions to the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, to BALPEX and to the American Philatelic Society, we are pleased to honor Patricia Stilwell Walker as a Distinguished Philatelist.
Under his administration, the APS has modernized and streamlined its operations, including such new directions as: bringing full color to The American Philatelist; establishing a Society web site and creating an Internet Sales Division which grosses approximately $1.3 million in annual sales; starting two new youth programs – the All*Star Stamp Clubs, which helps existing stamp clubs, and the Young Stamp Collectors of America, new this year, an Internet-based club for collectors 18 and under; greatly expanding the SocietyÕs educational outreach, to include the highly popular Summer Stamp Seminar.
Bob has taken his responsibilities as administrator of the Library deeply to heart. He has actively sought ways to improve library services and to strengthen cooperation with other philatelic libraries. When investment income declined dramatically, Bob espoused and helped sell the idea of acquiring rental properties to help underwrite the costs of the Library. It was this concept which facilitated the early development of the American Philatelic Center, a major step forward for the Society, the Library and the hobby. In barely two years, the Center has become a tourist destination, important for promoting the hobby and for fostering philatelic research.
Bob will say that all this progress, in a period of fiscal constraint, is due to an outstanding staff, and there is certainly truth in that assessment. But it is even more due to his leadership, training and encouragement, and the exceptional skill he shows as an insightful planner, manager and representative.
A life-long collector, Bob has used his worldwide collection to develop a variety of talks and seminars, including the analytic study of what constitutes a stamp-issuing entity. He is currently working on a discussion of illegal stamps to be presented to the Collectors Club of Chicago next year. For fun he developed a small exhibit of those stamps which ever carried Scott catalog number 383. He has written widely on philatelic subjects and for several years was responsible for the section on Philately in the Encyclopedia Britannica. His articles on stamp entities have appeared in Stamp Collector and in the The American Philatelist. He shared the Walter R McCoy award for an article on Kionga he co-authored which appeared in the 2003 Congress Book.
Bob came to the APS after his retirement from the U.S. diplomatic service, where he served for 30 years. His service abroad included Brussels; Monrovia, Liberia; Katmandu, Nepal; Bangkok; and Bonn. His final overseas assignment was Nicosia, Cyprus where he served as the U.S. Ambassador. His Washington assignments included Director of Financial Services for the State Department and seven years as Assistant Secretary of State. His final assignment was as U.S. negotiator for Cyprus.
His wife, Lucille, is from New Mexico. The Lambs have three children and eight grandchildren.
In recognition of his exceptional contributions to American philately, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society is most pleased to recognize Robert E. Lamb as a Distinguished Philatelist.
