Lawrence Receives Writing Award
The article also received the 2019 Barbara Mueller Award sponsored by the U.S. Stamp Society for the best article published that year in American Philatelist.
The first runner-up was Ralph Nafziger, for "Wisconsin Tercentenary Issue" in the May-June issue of First Days, the official journal of the AFDCS. Anthony Dewey was second runner-up, for "On the Trail of Grant and Lyon" in the March-April of First Days.
The award is named in honor of Philip H. Ward (1890-1963), the distinguished Philadelphia stamp collector, dealer and journalist who was a pioneer in the field of first day covers. The award was instituted by the AFDCS in 1964. All articles appearing in First Days are automatically considered for the award; articles in other publications may be submitted for consideration.
This is the third time Lawrence has received the Ward Award. In 1989, he was one of five authors contributing to a symposium on FDCs in The United States Specialist. He also was honored for his 1996 three-part series "First Day Covers in Earliest Usages," which also was published in American Philatelist. His monograph First Day Covers of 1918 Air Post Stamps — Or Are They? was published by the AFDCS in 2018, and is available for sale in the Marketplace/Handbooks section.
New Benefit: Member Connect
The American First Day Cover Society is offering its members a way to find other members with similar collecting interests and to seek out wanted items.
With the new “Member Connect” benefit, members may submit their collecting interests in a secure area of the AFDCS.org website, accessible only to other members. There is no charge for the service. Commercial ads and cachetmaker ads are not permitted in Member Connect entries. (Separate ads on the website may be purchased.)
An individual’s Member Connect entry may include any topic of general philatelic or FDC interest, or can be used to seek specific items (such as "want ZIP block on FDC for Sc. 1306"). There is a limit of 25 words per listing, and one listing per member. Members can submit changes or delete their listings at any time.
Member Connect can be found in the Members Area of the website, accessed via the “Member Login” button on the homepage. AFDCS members who do not already have access to this area can request it by sending their names and membership numbers via email to webmaster@afdcs.org.
In that same area, members can download copies of First Days, a full-color magazine published six times a year by the AFDCS. More members only content is planned for the near future.
Board Election Results
Members of the American First Day Cover Society have elected six people to its Board of Directors. The 279 ballots cast this year was much larger than usual, more than double the number in 2019.
The four candidates receiving the most votes will serve three-year terms beginning January 1, 2021:
| Foster Miller |
227 |
| Gary Denis |
161 |
| Mark Thompson |
140 |
| Kris McIntosh |
130 |
Two candidates will complete the unexpired terms of Tom Peluso (two more years) and Doug Kelsey (one more year), and take office immediately:
| Tamsie Goyer |
126 |
| Michael Lake |
117 |
Three other candidates were not elected:
| D.A. Lux |
93 |
| Ron Klimley |
65 |
| A. Francis Kohut |
39 |
There was one write-in vote, for Eric Wile.
Miller, Denis and Thompson are incumbents and are respectively Membership Chair, Education Chair and Treasurer. McIntosh is a retired high school history teacher who splits her time in several Western states. Goyer lives in Oklahoma but flies to Southern California for meetings of the AFDCS chapter there. Lake lives in Connecticut and works for ESPN Sports; he joined the AFDCS as a junior.
Board chairman Cynthia Scott and President Lloyd de Vries thanked Elections Committee chair Otto Thamasett and committee members Neal Parr and Jack Ginsburg, all members of the Robert C. Graebner Chapter of the AFDCS, for their work in counting the ballots in this year's election, and the Nominating Committee chaired by Michael Litvak for recruiting the candidates.
Four seats on the AFDCS Board of Directors are elected each year for three-year terms, beginning Jan. 1. In addition to the 12 elected directors, the president, the editor of the official journal First Days, and the general counsel serve on the board ex officio, if not elected to the board in their own right.
The current board, plus directors who will be seated on Jan. 1, will now vote for the elected officers (president, executive vice president, first vice president, recording secretary, treasurer) and a chairman of the board, to serve one-year terms.
AFDCS directors are not compensated nor reimbursed for their travel expenses.
First Days Receives Gold
Starkweather passed away one week before the competition at the age of 81.
David Lorms Named Exec. Secretary
Lorms, a veteran of the U.S. Navy's Submarine Service, has worked in management for a number of not-for-profit organizations, mostly in the health field. He began collecting first day covers while helping his daughter with a Girl Scouts project — she did not continue, but he did — and is a member of the AFDCS and its Washington, D.C.-area Robert C. Graebner Chapter, as well as the American Philatelic Society, Ebony Society for Philatelic Experiences and Reflections, Universal Ship Cancellation Society, and the American Topical Associations.
He succeeds Doug Kelsey, who served as AFDCS executive director and executive secretary for nearly 30 years before passing away this summer.
Lorms lives in Colonial Beach, Va., with his wife, where he is also a member of the county electoral board.
"I was amazed at the depth of talent and experience of the people who applied for our position, but David stood out from the field," said Lloyd A. de Vries, president of the AFDCS. "Even in the interview, he identified a number of areas the society needs to work on, and I think our future together looks bright."
De Vries thanked the Search Committee of Immediate Past President Chris Lazaroff, General Counsel Tris Fall, and First Vice President Jim Hogg for their work in making the recommendation, after the AFDCS received applications from several strong candidates.
Al Starkweather Passes
Starkweather had a long history in philatelic editing, including Stamps magazine, Stamp Insider, The Philatelic Communicator, The Ceremonial, and Airpost Journal. He took over editorial supervision for the AFDCS in 2015.
His non-philatelic journalism career included the Hartford Courant, Thomson Newspapers (including redesigning the websites of the newspapers for Oswego, NY, Newburgh, NY and Kittanning, Pa.) and communications projects and consulting for major corporations such as Dow Corning and General Electric.
A native of northern New York State, Startkweather had lived for a number of years in the Tampa, Fla., area.
Albert Warren Starkweather, Jr., 1939-2020
Albert “Al” Starkweather, 81, died November 14, 2020 in Tampa, Florida due to complications following a fall. In 2015 he was named Editor of First Days, the bimonthly journal of the American First Day Cover Society and held that position at the time of death.
Al was the son of Elizabeth and Albert Starkweather, Sr. and was born in Brownville, N.Y., May 9, 1939. He obtained a BA in English and psychology from the State University of New York at Potsdam and undertook graduate work in communications and photography at Syracuse University, and in business at the University of Connecticut.
Starkweather began his writing career with the Watertown (N.Y.) Daily Times. He served as executive editor for Thomson Newspapers where he restructured and redesigned several of its papers. He was project editor of CRC Press where he edited some of their technical handbooks and also worked for the Hartford Courant.
In recent years, as owner of Design on Demand, he created websites for many organizations including trade shows and art galleries. His firm offered consulting services for print and online communications. He also taught courses in fields such as computer science and journalism.
He joined the American Air Mail Society in the 1970s and learned about philatelic writing and editing from Frank Blumenthal and Perham Nahl. Al edited the APS Writers Unit’s The Philatelic Communicator from 2006 to 2010 during which time he vastly improved the use of graphics and converted the journal from black-and-white to full color. He also edited The Ceremonial, journal of the American Ceremony Program Society.
Al created the website for the Federation of New York Philatelic Societies and edited its print and online magazine Stamp Insider from 2003 until it was discontinued in 2018. He also contributed to Stamps magazine and Stamp Auction News.
Al Starkweather is survived by his brother John E. Starkweather, and daughters Lisa Starkweather and Karin Santamaria.
--Alan Warren
First Days Interim Editor Named
Miller will serve while Editor Al Starkweather recovers from a series of strokes, with the AFDCS paying stipends to both men while "Editor Al" mends and until the issue of Starkweather’s health is resolved.
Miller currently also edits The United States Specialist for the U.S. Stamp Society, and was former Chief Content Officer of the American Philatelic Society, which included editing its American Philatelist and Philatelic Literature Review. He is Marketing Coordinator for the American Topical Association, and recently oversaw several major projects for the Association, including the complete overhaul of its website.
Outside philately, he is president of The Image Forge, a marketing and design firm that has won more than a dozen American Graphic Design Awards. Prior to that, he held several professional positions in marketing and communications.
Miller lives in Greer, S.C., with his wife Jennifer, who is executive director of the ATA. Martin and Jennifer have three children and one grandchild who is a budding collector.
"We look forward to Al returning to editing First Days," said AFDCS President Lloyd A. de Vries, "but I feel the journal is in very good hands in the meantime."
De Vries thanked the Search Committee of Immediate Past President Chris Lazaroff, General Counsel Tris Fall, and First Vice President Jim Hogg for their work in making the recommendation, after the AFDCS received applications from several strong candidates.
The Society publishes First Days in full color six times per year. Each issue includes articles, columns and the best collection of advertisements by FDC dealers and cachetmakers found anywhere. Under Starkweather, it has received gold medals in every literature competition in which it has been entered in his six years as editor.
Annual Board Election Underway
The four candidates receiving the most votes will win three-year terms. The fifth-place candidate will complete Tom's term (through 2022) and the sixth will complete Doug's term (through 2021).
Four of the nine candidates are incumbents. Read all of the candidate statements here.
DOWNLOAD BALLOT
Ballots must be postmarked by December 1. The envelope in which you mail your ballot should have your name and membership number on the back. Please do not put anything else in the envelope. Mail you ballot to:
AFDCS Election Committee
℅ Otto Thamasett
6025 Sherborn Lane
Springfield, VA 22152-1643
Wanted: Executive Secretary
The American First Day Cover Society, a stamp collecting organization, is seeking to hire a contractor to fill its executive secretary position. The initial contract period would be for one year, after which it can be renewed.
The person hired as AFDCS executive secretary would manage the day-to-day finances of the Society, including making deposits and paying all operating expenses of the Society; process new membership applications and renewals; mail annual renewal notices to members; acknowledge and process all donations to the Society; answer telephone and email inquiries in a timely manner, or forward them to the appropriate person; prepare the annual report and budget for the officers and board of directors.
He or she would be responsible for maintaining a post office box for the Society and providing membership and donation reports for each issue of the Society's journal, First Days, published six times a year. The person would also provide an updated membership list before each issue to the printer and the webmaster.
The executive secretary would also supervise the Sales Department (although order fulfillment would be handled by someone else), and assist with publicity, including social media. Other duties may be prescribed by the AFDCS president or the board of directors. The position does not require relocation or regular business hours.
Candidates for this position should have modern office computer skills, including proficiency with Microsoft Office and email; some knowledge of bookkeeping; a polished presentation on the telephone and in email; and be a self-starter who can work on deadline without direct supervision. Familiarity with philately and first day covers in particular is not required, but would be an asset.
The American First Day Cover Society is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, and an affiliate of the American Philatelic Society. It was founded in 1955, and has about 1,150 members worldwide.
PayPal Accepted Here
Secure payment with Visa, MasterCard and American Express cards continues to remain an option.
New Book on 1945 U.N. FDCs
Each of the cachets is shown in color. The listings are divided into material that was intended to travel through the mail system, and those that were not. They are then further divided into those with contemporary cachets — applied no later than one year after the April 25, 1945, first-day — and add-ons. Raddi, from Michigan, invites readers to send information about other cachets that exist for this issue.
The book starts with a brief history of the conference, and then information about the stamp.
The Al Raddi Collection is available as a .pdf download from the AFDCS for $8 ($6 for members) or a printout may be purchased for $15 ($13) postpaid. Either version may be ordered from the AFDCS website at this link.
Really Silent Auction Makes Noise
The auction resulted in gross sales of $3,352. There were 76 winning bidders for the 215 auction lots. While there’s no feasible way to determine the total number of bidders, it’s obvious there were many more than the number that participated in past AFDCS live silent auctions held in the Hospitality Suite at Americover. Nevertheless, of that current unknown total, we know that 20 of them were first time HipStamp bidders.
Bidding was very active from the very first day of the auction and continued every day until the last. A number of participants were so pleased with the auction that they have asked when we will be conducting another.
Many thanks go out to Otto Thamasett and Michael Litvak for securing donations, to Foster Miller, Todd Ronnei, and Mark Rosenberg, owner of HipStamp, for publicity, and to the generous donors who contributed all of the interesting auction items. Dave Bennett is deserving of the most thanks for scanning the lots, uploading them onto the HipStamp website, and shipping them to the winning bidders.
APS New Member Special
Bid Now in Really Silent Auction
No?
Good!
Because that’s the sound of The Really Silent Auction - the important AFDCS fundraiser taking the place of our annual Hospitality Suite Silent Auction that has been derailed this year with the cancellation of Americover.
The Really Silent Auction, overflowing with premium FDCs from top cachetmakers, is going ‘virtual’ this year — it will be open for bidding all week long on HipStamp.com. 213 lots go ‘live’ Sunday evening, August 16, and close one week later.
The Ries and Graebner Chapters have done a great job - with the much-appreciated help of all the donors - of finding and offering these desirable covers. All donors are acknowledged at the end of each ‘details’ section for every one of the 213 auction lots.
They can all be viewed starting at 7pm EDT/4pm PDT on the 16th, right up until the last group uploads at 8:30pm. VIEW THE LOTS HERE.
Just as is the custom at the annual Hospitality Suite Silent Auction, all lots have opening bids of $5 with no reserves. And you will still be able to view against whom you are bidding . . but without all the jostling and good-natured elbowing that ensues in the Hospitality Suite!
If you are familiar with HipStamp, you’ll have no problems. If not yet a member, click here to register for free in the upper right hand corner where it says “Sign Up”.
Most lots have a $1 shipping fee. You’ll need a PayPal account to send payment at the end of the auction for any winning bids. (although the payments will be going to my account, all proceeds will be ultimately going to the AFDCS. It was necessary to use my own HipStamp store for the auction for ease of listing and sending out the purchased lots).
If you have ANY questions, please feel free to contact me, Dave Bennett, at bennettoons@earthlink.net, and I will do my best to provide any info you may need. Reach out if you are having any difficulties at all in navigating the HipStamp site.
The Hospitality Suite Silent Auctions have always been a mainstay of AFDCS funding . . . and that continues with The Really Silent Auction!
We hope you will support this event, add some great covers to your collection, and have a great time doing so!
But please — keep the noise down!
July-August First Days Delayed
As a result, the July-August issue of First Days is currently delayed. We will update you when additional information is available.
Please accept our apologies for the delay.
Doug Kelsey Passes
AFDCS Executive Secretary Douglas A. Kelsey passed away Tuesday, July 28, in Tucson, Arizona. He had suffered a stroke a month earlier, and was infected by the coronavirus during his recuperation. Doug served the AFDCS as its Executive Director and Executive Secretary for nearly 30 years.
We will miss him, both as our behind-the-scenes leader and guide, and as a friend.
Service Arrangements.
Douglas A. Kelsey: 1949–2020
AFDCS Executive Secretary Douglas A. (Doug) Kelsey, 70, of Tucson, Arizona, died on July 28 after suffering a stroke in mid-June and developing COVID-19 complications in the hospital.
“For nearly 30 years, as volunteers and leaders came and went, Doug was the backbone of the society, guiding us and providing the support that kept this organization running,” said AFDCS President Lloyd A. de Vries. “But more than that, Doug was a friend, and I will miss him personally.”
Kelsey was born September 3, 1949. He served as AFDCS executive director from 1991 until 2011, at which time the position was altered and named executive secretary. He also served many years on the society’s board of directors.
Kelsey began collecting in 1960 and exhibiting in 1962. His wide collecting interests included first day covers, meter stamps, airmails, postal stationery, revenues, and Brazil and Australia.
In 2002 he won the Americover grand award for his 1962 Project Mercury first day covers. He received the society’s Glenn Michel special recognition award in 2001, its Distinguished Service Award in 2007, and was named AFDCS Honorary Life Member 21 in 2008. In 2012 Kelsey was honored by the American Philatelic Society with its Nicholas Carter Volunteer Award for national promotion and service. He was an accredited APS judge.
Kelsey held offices in several organizations including executive director of the American Topical Association, vice president and director of the United States Philatelic Classics Society, treasurer of the St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Philatelic Society, president of the Machine Cancel Society, executive director of the Postal History Foundation, and secretary-treasurer of the Meter Stamp Society.
Kelsey has authored several hundred articles, columns, catalogues, and monographs, including the United States Meter Stamps First Days and Earliest Known Uses, published by the AFDCS in 1996. For fourteen years he authored a column for Linn’s Stamp News and was former editor of the Postal History Foundation’s Heliograph.
Following seven years’ service in the United States Air Force, Kelsey was an executive for Coca-Cola Bottling, where he was responsible for sales, distribution, advertising, and special projects. He then served as executive director of American Outback—a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation of American wildlife and wilderness. Before joining AFDCS he was executive director of the Postal History Foundation for four years. He was also executive director of the Tucson Association of Executives from 1999 until his death.
ALAN WARREN
Central Office Closed
Order fulfillment for items ordered on the website is not affected.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
New Elvis Catalog Available
Gary Dickinson's comprehensive cachet catalog on the two U.S. Elvis Presley stamps — really, four stamps — is now available from the AFDCS in our Marketplace section. It details almost 1,000 known cachets from the 1993 and 2015 issues, as well as documenting the stamps themselves.
Members can download a copy in .pdf format for $15, nonmembers for $17, or collectors can obtain a printout of the catalog for $23 (members) or $25 (nonmembers).
PURCHASE CATALOG
Register for Virtual Show
Registration (free) is now open for the Virtual Stamp Show extravaganza next month, sponsored by the American Philatelic Society, American Topical Association and American First Day Cover Society. The show runs from Monday, August 17 through Saturday, August 22.
REGISTRATION LINK
One of the show events is the Innovation stamps first-day ceremony on Thursday, August 20th, which will be hosted by the AFDCS.
Additional information about show events, including AFDCS meetings, will be forthcoming.
Board Candidates Sought
Michael Litvak has been appointed to chair the 2021 Nominating Committee. Al Starkweather and Mark Goodson are the other members of the panel.
Interested members may nominate themselves, or be nominated, by contacting Litvak: michael.litvak4@gmail.com or at 1866 Loma Vista Street, Pasadena, CA 91104-4005. Candidates must be members in good standing, and, if nominated by someone else, must indicate that they are interested and willing to serve on the board.
There are no term limits. The incumbents whose terms expire at the end of 2020 are Gary Denis, Ron Klimley, Foster Miller and Mark Thompson. Those elected in the next election will begin serving January 1, 2021, although they will be asked to vote before then for officers and a chairman of the board, all of whom serve one-year terms.
Directors (members of the board) are expected to attend the board's annual meeting, usually held the evening before the convention, and participate in between-meeting discussions and votes, often conducted online (email). Candidates are expected to submit a short election statement or biography and a good-quality "headshot" photograph to First Days by August 1st.
The board consists of the 12 elected directors, and, ex officio, the president, editor, and general counsel. Directors do not receive any compensation for serving on the board.
Get Ready for the Silent Auction
The loss of this year’s Americover gathering and its attendant festivities is going to leave a big hole in the summer calendar for many AFDCSers.
But we think we have a way to plug part of that hole! Planning is already underway to hold a virtual edition of the ever-popular Hospitality Room SILENT AUCTION. This one will be REALLY silent!
The online stamp marketplace HipStamp has agreed to let us stage our auction on their website in late August! Instead of crowding around four closely-spaced frames in a tiny room, this year you can bid from the comfort of your home! You can bring your own snacks!
Donations are arriving daily to make this one of the best Silent Auctions ever. Details will be forthcoming as to where to find the auction online, but if you are not already a member of HipStamp, you should really check out their millions of stamp and cover offerings at hipstamp.com.
The auction is tentatively scheduled to begin on August 16 and close on the evening of Sunday, August 23. Stay tuned for all the ins and outs of how bidding will be handled. This will be a bountiful, terrific and fun auction — and no face masks required!
GASS/Americover 2020 Canceled
The Great American Stamp Show, scheduled for August 20-23 in Hartford, Connecticut, has been canceled. It would have been the largest stamp show of the year in the United States, and was sponsored by the American Philatelic Society, American Topical Association and the American First Day Cover Society.
Based on current information from the State of Connecticut, the show would either be canceled due to its size or require aggressive mitigation as an indoor activity.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
Thompson Weathers the Storm
Some of his collection may be damaged by the rain, but he believes his gold-medal exhibit is fine.
Tom Peluso Passes
A full obituary will appear in an upcoming issue of First Days.
FDC Exhbits Win Big at SESE
Charles J. O'Brien, III took the Multi-frame Grand Award for his Frank Lloyd Wright First Days & Usages of the Two Cent Definitive Issue. This is a must see exhibit, He even has a full deck of 100 panes of the stamp INSIDE the exhibit frame.
In addition, in what is apparently a first outside of Americover, first day cover exhibits took three of the four APS Awards of Excellence:
- Kris McIntosh 1900-1940 for The 3 Cent Susan B. Anthony Issue, which also won a Large Gold
- Charles J. O'Brien 1940-1980 for his Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit, which also won a Large Gold
- Mark Thompson 1980-present for Women in the Black Heritage Series - From Fields of Slavery to the Halls of Congress, which also won a Large Vermeil
I had a non-competitive exhibit on A Selection of First Day Covers for the United States 50th Anniversary Woman Suffrage Stamp.
-Foster Miller
Cynthia Scott is Board Chair
The 2020 AFDCS officers will be Lloyd de Vries of New Jersey, president; Michael Litvak of California, executive vice president; Jim Hogg of Florida, first vice president; Ralph Nafziger of Oregon, recording secretary; and Mark Thompson of Tennessee, treasurer.
The former Master Sergeant also served for more than 30 years in the U.S. Air Force. She is about to leave her position as Registrar Services representative at Indiana University-Purdue University after 12 years, but is currently taking courses. “I love being a student so much that I am now pursuing my second bachelor's degree, this one a BA in English,” she says.
AFDCS officers are not compensated, nor reimbursed for their travel expenses. The Executive Committee, which also includes the executive secretary, immediate past president, editor, membership and education chairs, and the general counsel, conducts business throughout the year and meets each year at the society's annual convention, which in 2020 will be held August 20-23 at Great American Stamp Show in Hartford, Conn.
The AFDCS board will also meet at the convention and conduct other business throughout the year, under Scott's direction.