Good Trouble Earns U.S. Stamp of Approval

Through most of my 27 years in Atlanta, Congressman John Lewis provided elected representation for this blogger's home district. 

As noted in previous posts, I also enjoyed the good fortune of speaking with the Civil Rights icon and "the conscience of the Congress" more than once. 

Sadly, when Lewis died during the early months of the pandemic, a suitable public memorial in Atlanta was not possible. 

On a brighter note, this unfortunate timing finally got corrected July 21, when the U.S. Postal Service hosted the First Day of Issue ceremony for the first-class stamp honoring the legend. Most seem to love the classy design. A recording of the entire ceremony is available via YouTube and at the base of this post. 

During the festivities held in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College, it was inspiring to be reminded of Lewis' lifetime of service, and to learn a few surprises during remarks from postal officials, two former Atlanta mayors and Lewis' son. 

Golden Globe and EMMY-winning actress Alfre Woodard emceed the event (am I the last to learn she is from Oklahoma like me?), while U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, who is also senior pastor at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, delivered the benediction as fellow U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, a former intern of Lewis' office, looked on from the front row of the packed venue, which also included the actor Emanuel Lewis. 

Prior to the stamp's ceremonial unveiling, Ronald Stroman of the USPS shared details of its design, which features a photograph Marco Grob snapped for Time magazine in 2013 as the centerpiece of a design by Derry Noyes. 

"Look carefully at how the shadow falls on the right side of [Lewis'] face, illuminating the left side, in a way that seems to take the viewer from darkness into the light," said Stroman. "A fitting tribute to a man who sought to awaken the conscience of a country."

The congressman's son, John-Miles Lewis, and other speakers later revealed that the elder Lewis was an avid stamp collector who deployed both family members and staff to purchase stamps on a regular basis.

Among Lewis' favorite designs: a 2017 Forever stamp commemorating the National Museum of African American History and Culture. A former colleague who knew of the congressman's passion for stamps speculated on how his former boss might react to one featuring his likeness. 

"The release of this stamp is an honor that would overwhelm him and leave him speechless," said Michael Collins, former chief of staff for Lewis. 

After describing his father's love for philately and encouraging the exchange of ideas through letters, John-Miles also relayed family and national lore of the initial mail exchanged by a youthful Lewis and MLK Jr. (also described in Lewis' own words in this video). 

"Two stamps with letters changed history," he said. 

As a philatelist since family and a childhood friend encouraged the hobby in 1986, I never coveted First Day of Issue covers, the envelopes with the special day-of-issue cancellations. 

But I very much enjoyed attending this, my first official stamp-centric ceremony since the U.S. Postal Service in Oklahoma City hosted me for a thank you celebration after U.S. Olympic Festival-'89 (see the fine print of the Daily Oklahoman clip for details). 

Though it was news to me that Lewis enjoyed philately, it's no surprise he found value in the unlimited lessons of the hobby from history and geography to design, creativity, leadership and understanding other perspectives. There's a lot to unpack from each miniature work of art. 

Other fun facts from the Lewis ceremony press kit: 

• The postal service printed 30 million of the stamps in panes of 15
• The image is one of approximately 25 designs approved each year, culled down from "about 30,000 suggestions" received annually for consideration by the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC)

What's not in the press kit is that the CSAC and its 11 members have yet to respond to my detailed questions about the USPS halting Olympic stamp approvals since 2010. 

But anyone who agrees U.S. Mail should include Olympic stamps again in the future may nominate the topic for consideration by submitting a letter to the committee by mail via the instructions posted at this link. 

While exiting the ceremony to purchase two panes of Lewis stamps, I noticed the neighboring Morehouse track, recently resurfaced and named in honor of Olympic champion Edwin Moses, prompting a query about Lewis' own five-ringed experiences. The only definitive answer located so far was a June 1996 video archived by C-Span in which the congressman welcomed the Olympic flame to the U.S. Capitol steps (toggle to the 20-minute mark for Lewis' remarks).

The ceremony also inspired attendees to make time for personal correspondence and to find unlimited ways to engage in "good trouble" for all their days. If you have not done so already, I strongly recommend your investment of time to read or listen to Lewis' final op-ed published by The New York Times shortly after his death. 

Event photos by Nicholas Wolaver; stamp images via USPS; quote image below via BlackAlliance.org

Olympic Philatelists Seek Stamp of Approval in NYC

It's a big week for stamp collecting thanks to an army of volunteers putting on the biggest postage-centric event in years.

Anyone can learn the hobby enjoyed by astronauts, famous musicians, presidents and even Olympic silver medalists in tennis (my personal favorite).

Stamp collecting is a solitary pastime. But many philatelists find a social side to the hobby by networking at local collector club events or special shows and exhibitions. 

Growing up in Oklahoma, this blogger attended the annual OKPEX from 1986 to 1990, exhibiting my stamps of the Olympics, U.S. presidents/monuments, Caribbean islands and the Republic of South Moluccas in youth competitions. Once settled in Atlanta years later, I made my way to a few Georgia stamp collector events almost annually since 2000.

The "Olympics" of major exhibitions arrives every 10 years rather than four. And May 28 marks the opening of this decade's World Stamp Show, welcoming the public (tickets are free) at the Javits Convention Center on Manhattan's west side. 

The big event continues through June 4, and later this holiday weekend I'll be attending for a day while taking in a theater show near Broadway.

According to the schedule of guest presenters and exhibitors, World Stamp Show includes many direct connections to the Olympic world, including:

• Sports Philatelists International (SPI) Sports and Olympics Collectors Meeting from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 30

• Presentation by SPI member and two-time U.S. Olympian (1976, 1980 rowing) John Everett titled "Pulling Your Weight - A Philatelic Story of Rowing and the Olympics"

• Atlanta Cultural Olympiad's president of Olymphilex 1996, Nancy Clark, presenting "Not Just Stamps - A Philatelic Story of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games"

• Numerous Olympic stamp exhibits (some in competition) with the titles/themes "Commemorative Issue of the First Olympic Games - Athens 1896" (frames 1625-1632), "History of the Olympics Through Philately" (literature), "Olympic Games" (frames 4874-4877 from India and frames 4385-4392 from Thailand), "Poland Olympic Chronicle" (frames 4826-4828), "Olympic Games Beijing 2008" (frames 4907-4908), "The Summer Olympic Games" (frames 4406-4413) and "The 1944 Gross Born POW Olympics" (frame 2809).

Last year in Atlanta, that POW Olympic display appeared in a Georgia stamp show. 

As it turns out, from July 23 to August 13, 1944, prisoners in one of the Polish Nazi concentration camps in German-occupied Poland got permission to stage an Olympic competition, including elements of a Cultural Olympiad (specifically, in-camp engraved postage stamps). 

I am eager to reexamine frame 2809 as my photos of the exhibition were lost with a dropped mobile phone earlier this year, and it fascinated me the Olympic spirit shined through very dark times of WWII. A black and white PDF of the exhibition is available online here.

Other World Stamp Show items that enticed me to book last-minute travel include the most expensive stamp in the world -- the British Guiana One Cent Magenta of 1856 -- as well as an Inverted Jenny (as reported by The New York Times, which also wrote about the publication's short-lived mail plane and service) and other extremely rare early U.S. commemorative stamps, many of which I've only seen as photographs in books. 

I would love to find a set of the 1934 National Stamp Exhibition cinderella stamps (image posted below) during my treasure hunt in the dealer area.

It would be fun to also stumble upon my favorite Olympic stamp designs by Robert Peak in 1984 and Bart Forbes from 1988 to 1992 (the image at right is a Forbes painting that was not selected by the USPS as they instead opted for a portrait of Jesse Owens running, also painted by Forbes). 

Also looking forward to learning more about SPI and International Association of Olympic Collectors (AICO) sharing booth 778, according to the show guide. 

Had to smile for the World Stamp Show media relations team members who landed a preview story about the event in Rolling Stone Magazine. Turns out John Lennon's stamp collection will be on view all week. 

Imagine all the postage!

Image of FDR via Discovering Topical Stamp Collecting; World Stamp Show logo via the event home page www.NY2016.org; 1944 POW Olympic stamp image via Alphabetelately.org; Image of 1934 National Stamp Exhibition cinderella stamps via Ebay.

Note: Based on reader feedback in the comments section, the paragraph concerning the Gross-Born POW Olympics was amended on June 4, 2016, to correct my erroneous description of the camp. A strikethrough indicates the error in the original post, with the words "Nazi" and "German-occupied Poland" added to correct my error. 

Sticking It To The U.S. Postal Service

It's a bummer to research the upcoming 2012 postage stamp designs due for distribution by the U.S. Postal Service, which apparently is skipping London 2012 for a new Olympic stamp design.

I'm still learning about 2012 Olympic stamps and the Olympic philatelic traditions, but will just write briefly tonight that the U.S.P.S. is missing out on an opportunity to maintain several consecutive Olympiads of original and beautiful five-ringed designs (some of my personal favorites include Robert Peak's iconic Olympic stamps for 1984 in Los Angeles as well as Bart Forbes' designs for 1988 and 1992, the latter released during the 1990 U.S. Olympic Festival in Minneapolis/St. Paul).

What Olympic stamps are due out for other nations in 2012? I'm just starting to research this. If you see one you like, or loathe, please send me a link.

Olympic stamp images via links for dealers showcasing Athens 1896 and Los Angeles 1932 designs

So Money, Baby!

Though their website does not seem to have it archived, NPR aired a "Morning Edition" report this week during which they reported news from BOCOG (Beijing's Olympic organizing committee) -- in spite of their carmine-hued national flag and gargantuan spending/budgets, China's Games emerged in the black with a whopping $176 million profit.

According to the Associated Press, some of this profit is to be attributed to hefty sales of souvenirs, coins and stamps.

Stamps?

Reading that stamps helped clear BOCOG of decades of debt made me chuckle as it was like searching for a needle in a haystack to find a post office, let alone collectible philatelic items, in Beijing!

During my month-long Games assignment last year, we encountered only two post offices -- both temporary counters set up for international visitors -- with one each at the Beijing International Media Center (BIMC ... short for "you couldn't get IOC accreditation consolation destination") and one in the massive Main Press Center/International Broadcast Center (MPC/IBC). They did have some interesting postal collectibles. But not enough stamps were moving to explain even a small percentage of Beijing's reported Games profit (thinking there was one person in line mailing a post card -- everyone else was e-mailing home, methinks).

Speaking of their profits, Beijing's results are right up there with another most profitable Olympic enterprise: The Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad at Los Angeles. Almost 25 years ago the City of Angels welcomed the world with tremendous success, to the tune of a $235 million profit, according to the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games (SCCOG).

Their site details how this tremendous financial windfall created a vast Olympic legacy enjoyed over the last 25 years (and for the foreseeable future).

In just a few weeks, SCCOG and the L.A. Sports Council are throwing a party to celebrate "LA84-XXV" -- the 25th anniversary of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

It hardly seems possible it's been a quarter of a century since the grand Opening Ceremonies, and this celebration on the floor of Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. David Wolper (the man who brought dozens of grand pianos out of nowhere into the stadium -- the single moment that got me hooked on the Games) is the producer of the evening's festivities to commence July 18. They even got the Millennium Biltmore Hotel to roll back prices to $84 per night for the weekend!

My hope is that timing will permit travel to the LA84-XXV gathering, and will certainly blog about it more. Anyone else going? If so, drop me a line and we'll get toast the Games inside the 1932 and 1984 Olympic palace.

We'll also have to do the same at the Bird's Nest in 2033 -- marking calendar now to dust off Olympic stamp collection then, too.

Credit: Bird's Nest photo via Olympics.org; LA Memorial Coliseum photo via SCCOG; Monopoly card via Parker Brothers and Bankrate.com

Currency Inferiority Complex?

Last week I invited public relations members of Help A Reporter Out (HARO) to submit Olympic stuff. Several very interesting items filled my in box, the first of which is a million dollar idea.

According to the publicist for GovMin.com, for the 2008 Beijing Games the China Mint created the largest Olympic coin in history. I've always been more of a philatelist than into numismatics, but must admit this massive coin (22 pounds of solid gold) was intriguing.

How big is it? It's so big it puts the U.S. 25 cent piece to shame, sort of like putting earth next to Saturn or Jupiter on a solar system model (see photo). This coin will only set you back a cool Olympic million dollars, with only one such special edition medallion available in the U.S.

I think I'll stick to Olympic pin collecting and stamps for now, but look forward to learning about the eventual sale of this coin. In the meantime, this KARE-TV (Minneapolis/St. Paul NBC) clip on the coins is quite good video.

UPDATE (added Aug. 7): At the time of this posting above, I was not aware that the Royal Canadian Mint is involved, and that the Mint is actually a client of Edelman's Beijing office. So in the interest of disclosure, adding this update that the Mint works with Edelman Beijing for the Mint's participation in the Olympex Exhibition (which I will certainly add to my action list for a visit).