The Distinguished Service Award (DSA) was bestowed upon Gerald Strauss during Great American Stamp Show. The recipients of this honor — arguably the AFDCS’s highest — is decided by past recipients of the DSA, and is only given to current members of the AFDCS. (Honorary Life Membership, the other top award, may be given to non-members.) The DSA is not awarded every year, only when a deserving candidate is proposed.

Strauss, shown here in 1957, was the first editor of First Days, which began as a four-page mimeographed quarterly newsletter in 1955. He continued through 1959. He also wrote and edited extensively for Washington Stamp Exchange, including its White Ace albums and ArtCraft FDC catalogues.

A full list of all past DSA recipients is here.