This project began as a collaborative work between Tom Alexander, George W. Brett and W. Wilson Hulme II. With the untimely deaths of both George and Wilson, Tom chose to forge on and complete the work.
Tom is considered one of the greatest postal history scholars in American philately. He has spent the last fourteen years compiling and writing the story of how mass communication came to America thus giving ordinary citizens the ability to communicate cheaply and often. The battle over postal reform began in England and spread to the United States. The debate in our country could be viewed as a second revolution which culminated in cheap postage in 1847 with the issuance of postage stamps reflecting the five and ten cent rates.
After election to Vice President in 2004, he and President W. Wilson Hulme II began collaborating on an ambitious program of improvement and growth. Together they introduced the four-point mission we use today to manage our society: Administrative Matters; Share Information; Outreach & Sense of Belonging; and Management Excellence. Our Key Indicators dashboard was developed and is still used to measure progress. Wade raised half of the funding for our society room at the American Philatelic Center, which was fitted out at no cost to our treasury and decorated by his wife Gayle. He conceived and organized the multi-society booth at Washington 2006.
When Wade became President after the tragic loss of W. Wilson Hulme, II in 2010, his focus on the society’s mission allowed us to continue functioning without interruption. In our goal to Share Information the most visible achievement was the move to a full-color Chronicle, which led to an increase in manuscript submissions, a 10% increase in page count and a nearly 300% growth in advertising revenue. A fully searchable Web Chronicle followed. The Chairman’s Chatter was reinvented with a new format and frequency and at lower cost. It was Wade’s vision that launched our Exhibits on CDs program, the consolidation and donation of our archives to the American Philatelic Research Library, and the Brookman republishing project.
For Outreach and Sense of Belonging, Wade’s guidance has driven several important changes. We are nearing completion of an exciting project to completely redesign our website. We are allied with, and financially sup- port the Young Philatelic Leaders Fellowship and the Institute for Analytical Philately. We conducted the first Classics Society exhibition and bourse at the American Philatelic Center, soon to be repeated. Since Wade became President, our membership has grown by 7% in a time when most philatelic organizations are shrinking.
Wade’s Management Excellence is reflected in how our business is conducted: well-defined agendas, ideas and opinions sought from all participants, and actions agreed which are specific, measurable and time-bounded. As a consequence of applying this approach to fiscal responsibility, our in- vestment assets have more than doubled despite a prolonged recession.
Great leaders drive change by setting a vision, then leveraging their talent by identifying motivated people, encouraging them, and achieving through their efforts. We are honored to present the Tracy W. Simpson Cup to Wade E. Saadi, truly a great leader.
Walske has shared his collections and knowledge with us through exhibiting since 1975. He has done so frequently, with about ten different exhibits, with very impressive results, both nationally and internationally. He was the first non-Frenchman to win the Grand Prix National at PhilexFrance 99 with his Franco-Prussian War Siege Mail exhibit. In the United States, he was the runner-up for the Grand Prix National at Washington 2006 for his exhibit on Special Postal Routes Across the Lines During the American Civil War. A third exhibit. Heart of the West: San Francisco as a Postal Hub from 1849 to 1869, won the Grand Prix National at the SESCAL ’08 Continental FIP exhibition. Many of his exhibits are available for study on the Internet. Not content to just show pretty covers, Walske does thorough research in his areas of interest, resulting in both articles and books. His articles have appeared in our award winning publication, The Chronicle o/the U.S. Classic Postal Issues. In 2003 he wrote a monograph entitled Post Office Mail Sent across the Lines at the Start of the American Civil War. This was expanded into a book in 2008, co-authored with Scott Trepel, entitled Special Postal Routes of the American Civil War: A Guide to Across-the-Lines Postal History. In 2005 Walske co-authored The Pony Express A Postal History, with Richard Frajola and George Kramer.
Steven Walske has been and is active in several philatelic organizations other than the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, including the France & Colonies Philatelic Society, the American Philatelic Society, the Confederate Stamp Alliance and the Western Cover Society. Walske has been an associate foreign member of the Academie de Philatelie since 1999, a fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society of London since 2003, and a member of the Association International des Experts en Philatelie since 2006. In addition, he has been a trustee of the Philatelic Foundation since 2003, the Western Mails Section Editor of the Chronicle since 2006 and a director of the Western Cover Society since 2007.
Steve’s professional career revolved around one software company in particular, which he helped found in 1986. While at the helm through 2000, Parametric Technology Corporation grew to 5,000 employees and over $1 billion in revenue. Since 2000, Walske has been the Managing Director of Myriad Investments, LLC. That is his private equity firm specializing in investments in software companies.
After living in the Boston area for thirty-five years, Walske moved to San Francisco in 2009, where he lives with his wife. Jennifer.
Today, it is with pleasure that the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society acknowledges the exceptional contributions to philately by Steven C. Walske by honoring him as a Distinguished Philatelist.