FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 21, 2009...At the USPCS board meeting on August 8, 2009, the society's Board of Directors voted unanimously to sponsor a single Young Philatelic Leaders Fellow for the 2010-2011 Fellowship year. The first class of Fellows just began their yearlong Fellowship at the 2009 APS StampShow in Pittsburgh.

The Young Philatelic Leaders Fellowship (YPLF) is the brainchild of USPCS life member and Publicist Alex Haimann and was first proposed in Alex's Tiffany Dinner speech at the 2008 AmeriStamp Show. The YPLF's purpose is to seek out and engage the most enthusiastic youth stamp collectors (ages 13-25) in United States. Once in the program, the YPLF provides for these young collectors to attend the events and visit the places that make philately exciting including the APS winter AmeriStamp show, the summer StampShows, the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and the American Philatelic Society's headquarters. Each Fellow chooses one of three Tracks (Author, Dealer or Exhibitor) in which they will complete a number of projects related to that Track. Throughout the course of the yearlong Fellowship, these Youth Fellows will interact with a number of adult mentors who will guide each Fellow through their chosen Track.

"Some of these Fellows are potentially the future Board Directors and officers of the U.S. Classics Society in addition to the future leaders of other major philatelic organizations in the United States" said USPCS President Wade Saadi, "we're thrilled to be a part of this exciting new Youth program." To learn more about the YPLF, visit www.stampfellowship.org

The USPCS announces its 2009 Stanley B. Ashbrook Cup winner-- Leonard Piszkiewicz for his book, United States Supplementary Mail. The Stanley B. Ashbrook Cup is awarded to authors of articles, books, or other studies concerning United States postal history from the Colonial Period to 1894.

Len began collecting covers in 1950 when his father addressed an envelope for him to obtain a cancellation from the Chicago Fair. After Loyola University and a doctorate in organic chemistry from California Institute of Technology, he settled in Santa Clara, California. His 2006 book, Chicago Postal Markings and Postal History Vignettes, provides a fresh approach to Chicago postal history while documenting United States Post Office mail handling procedures from the mid-19th century through the middle of the 20th century.

Len's articles have appeared in a wide variety of philatelic publications, including the Chronicle and the United States Specialist, which he has edited since 1998. His award winning exhibits have ranged from "Usages of the Presidential Issue of 1938" to vintage LaSalles that he restored. Although New York Supplementary Mail covers and markings are well known, the history and operation of this service has been poorly understood by many collectors. Before Len's book, a few collectors knew a fact or two about how the service had operated, based on covers in their collections. U.S. Supplementary Mail had never been researched in a systematic way; the information he gleaned from newspapers and government documents was almost entirely unknown to the philatelic world. Len traces Supplementary Mail, defined as "late mail dispatches on ships from U.S. ports for which double postage was charged," from its 1853 origins in New York harbor, through its development in other American ports, to its end with the outbreak of World War II. A significant portion of the book is devoted to methods of identification for supplementary mail covers, especially those outside of New York, which did not receive distinctive markings. Not only does this book substantially expand on Dr. Warren Babcock's booklet published 70 years ago, but also Len makes a convincing case for the reexamination of Classic period, double rate covers from other port cities for possible examples of Supplementary Mail.

The USPCS also has a new Editor for its membership publication, The Chatter-- longtime USPCS member Dan Warren. Dan will replace outgoing Chatter Editor Matt Kewriga, later this fall. We thank Matt for his excellent service to the Society. Dan is a physician and a retired Army Colonel. He is a long-time member of the USPCS (RA 1128), past President of the Confederate Stamp Alliance, a 50-year member of the APS, and belongs to many other philatelic societies. An accredited frame and literature judge, Dan also was the first Editor for the Virginia Postal History Society, served as interim editor of the Confederate Philatelist, and has written extensively, mostly on Confederate subjects.

About the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society

The U.S. Philatelic Classics Society is the only organization that studies in depth the stamps and postal history of the United States from the Colonial era to 1900. Our members include both collectors and students. Many have written articles that have been published in our award winning quarterly magazine, The Chronicle of the U.S. Classic Postal Issues, and in other publications. Information about the USPCS, membership, its publications, and articles of interest to collectors and students of the classic period of U.S. philately, can found at the society's website at www.uspcs.org. Copies of back issues of the Chronicle and previously published books are also available from the society's bookstore, accessible from the society's website, or directly at http://www.uspcs.org/store.html.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Wade E. Saadi
President, USPCS
wade@pencom.com

or

Alexander Haimann
Publicist, USPCS
alex@mysticrarestamps.com