The Richard Winter Cup
Steven Walske
The Richard Winter Cup is awarded to authors or creators of print, electronic or digital media concerning United States postal history from the colonial period to 1900. For 2025 the Winter Cup is awarded to Steven Walske for his book “Letter Communications Through the Blockades of North America 1774 to 1865”.
Steve’s current major interests are North American blockade-run mail from 1775 to 1865; French Franco-Prussian War mail (1870-71); and American transcontinental overland mail from 1832 to 1869. He has exhibited frequently, and his Franco-Prussian War Siege Mail exhibit won the Grand Prix International at Luxembourg ’98 and the Grand Prix National at PhilexFrance ’99 (the first non-Frenchman ever to win the award). His Civil War across-the-lines exhibit was nominated for the Grand Prix National at Washington 2006. His San Francisco postal history collection entitled ‘Heart of the West: San Francisco as a Postal Hub from 1849 to 1869’ received the Grand Prix d’Exposition at Indonesia 2012 and the Grand Prix National at the SESCAL ’08 Continental FIP exhibition. He also built the ‘Lafayette’ collection of classic France, which was sold in 2003.
Steve’s 2003 Civil War-related research culminated in the 2008 book entitled Special Mail Routes of the American Civil War: A Guide to Across-the-Lines Postal History, co-authored with Scott Trepel. In 2005, he also co-authored a book entitled The Pony Express: A Postal History with Richard Frajola and Georg Kramer. Steve has published numerous articles on the Chronicle, Western Express, Collectors’ Club Philatelist and Les Documents Philateliques. In 2014 he wrote the chapter entitled ”Blockade Run Mail during the American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783” in the book From Indian Trails to the Birth of a Nation. This was the first philatelic treatment of the blockade run mail during the Revolutionary War. Steve was the lead author (with Richard Frajola) on the 2015 Mails of the Westward Expansion:1803 to 1861, which was awarded the coveted RPSL Crawford Medal in March 2016.
The U.S. Philatelic Classics Society congratulates Mr. Walske for his outstanding work, which will greatly further knowledge and appreciation of this aspect of U.S. postal history.
Tracy Simpson Cup
Rob Lund
The 2025 Tracy Simpson Cup for outstanding service to the Society is awarded to Rob Lund for his 25 years of service to the USPCS. Clifford Robin Lund, known to his friends as “Rob” was born on 8 September 1945 in the San Diego Naval Hospital. At the time of his birth Rob’s father Clifford “Ray” Lund was being discharged from the U.S. Navy after serving on the U.S. battleship “Colorado” which had been involved in seven major battles during WW2 in the Pacific where he served under Admiral Chester M. Nimitz. Rob traveled basically from San Diego to western Washington, then to Lewiston, Idaho. Then in 1955 Rob and family came to Everett, Washington, where his stamp collecting started, and he found a love of the game of chess. After he graduated from high school in 1963 Rob enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving as a Quartermaster on The USS Pyro and the destroyer USS Jenkins DD447, with two tours to the Viet Nam war and also operating in the Tiawan straights. While he was serving as helmsman on the U.S.S. Jenkins, he was awarded a Letter of Commendation by the fleet Admiral for his expertise as helmsman during a time of distress. Rob also went to military schooling at Treasure Island in San Francisco, where “five-star Admiral Nimitz” was the senior officer on that base.
Rob started collecting stamps in the 1950s, buying some mint stamps at the “Pinehurst” Everett, Washington post office. After he joined the Navy Rob’s younger sister found that she could use his stamps for postage, so that was the end of his original collection, until the 1980s. His first big international show was “Pacific ‘97’ in San Francisco, where he connected with Dick Celler and a long list of other collectors who lead him to his love of the plating world of the 3 cent US 1851-1860 stamps.
Rob is a life member of the USPCS, The APS and a member of The Collectors Club located in New York, along with being a member of the Seattle, Washington “Collectors Club”. In addition, The U.S. Cancelation Club, and the local Sno-King Stamp Club.
Rob is honored to have served for over 25 years as the Classic Society’s “Membership Charman”, and he was pleased to have had a few of his articles published in the “Chronicle” and other publications.
The Society is deeply indebted to Rob for his many years of exemplary service.
Susan M. McDonald Award
Steven Walske
The Susan McDonald award is given annually by the Section Editors of the Chronicle to recognize the year’s best Chronicle article. The McDonald winner for 2025 is Steven Walske, for his deeply-researched article, “A Boston Ice Merchant Takes on the Western Fur Trade, 1832-36” published in the November 2025 Chronicle. Here Walske tells the poignant story of Nathaniel Wyeth, a would-be entrepreneur whose dreams of western riches from fur trading were thwarted by the wily mountain men with whom Wyeth aspired to compete. (He went on to great success in the Boston ice trade.)
The saga of Wyeth’s western journey, a concatenation of losses and setbacks, is told through surviving journal entries and through the correspondence Wyeth sent back east, including the earliest posted letter known to have crossed the Rocky Mountains and several letters carried across Canada by the canoe brigade of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Three maps further support the story, which provides illuminating and exciting insights into the early postal history of the American west.
Distinguished Philatelist
2026 Dr. Daniel Knowles
Daniel Knowles retired from academic medicine after a successful career as a hematopathologist, physician scientist, Chair of the Weill Cornell Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and President and CEO of the Weill Cornell Physician Organization. Dan published over 300 peer-reviewed articles in the medical and scientific literature. He was listed in “Best Doctors in America” every year from 1992 until he retired in 2019.
Dan’s mother introduced him to stamp collecting at age 9. He joined the APS in 1966 at 19 and has retained his APS membership continuously since then. Dan’s interests in the historical events of the 1860s led him to collect, study and exhibit United States postal history of that period, including the American Civil War, about which he has published 26 articles. His multi-frame Confederate postal history exhibit won 7 Grand Awards and 3 Reserve Grand Awards at APS WSP shows between 2018 and 2025. His single frame “United States Demonetization” exhibit won the 2024 Single Frame Champion of Champions Award. He is President of the Civil War Philatelic Society, an APS-certified judge, sits on the APS Finance Committee and is a life member of the APS, the United States Philatelic Classics Society and the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors.
The U. S. Philatelic Classics Society is pleased to add to Dr. Knowles’ many honors by inviting him to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists.
Distinguished Philatelist
2026 Dr. Tim O’Connor
Dr. Tim O’Connor always loved history. Stamps were a small reminder of famous places and events. He joined the Cheshire Connecticut stamp club as a young high school student. His local physician, William Neff collected number 1s and he was Tim’s first mentor. Tim was further inspired by an exhibit of archival material at Dartmouth College’s Baker Library. Tim then attended Tufts Med school, located near the seaport Naval Building, where the Philatelic Group of Boston met. Arthur White, Nancy and Douglas Clark took up the cudgel of guidance. While in training in Worcester, Tim would occasionally drive Mel Schuh to the meetings.
Tim’s medical practice in Newton Massachusetts allowed him to expand his horizons and to narrow his interests to the earliest available material. He continued to educate himself, by visiting all the nearby Museums and Historical Societies containing archival material. Rooting through indexes and lists of letters was laborious back when Tim started his study of Colonial postal history. Today, computerized records allow more thorough and speedier discovery of useful data. Tim especially benefited from access to the many volumes of Benjamin Franklin’s papers at the American Philosophical Society and Yale University.
A local, respected dealer, Bob Borden, was a colonial re-enactor. His wife, also a re-enactor, was also a seamstress, and she handmade a 1740s era outfit that became Ben Franklin’s garb. With more time, Tim has enjoyed writing about the Posts of America. Proceeding chronologically, he examined the Lovelace Post 1672-3 (visiting the New York Public Library, New York Historical Society and the Massachusetts Historical Society), the Neale Patent era 1693-1711 (same archives, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Rhode Island Historical Society), Ben Franklin’s Free Franks (awarded the USPCS Susan McDonald Award 2020) and the Congressional Post Office at Montreal (awarded the Susan McDonald Award 2018). The timing is right for interest in colonial America and the Founding of our Postal system, and Dr. Franklin has performed numerous times in America and London (Lee Medal for Best Presentation 2018). Tim has also enjoyed exhibiting, winning Grands at Boxborough 2016, 2021, Seapex 2018, and the APS Research medal in 2025 Sarasota.
The U. S. Philatelic Classics Society is pleased to add to Dr. O’Connor’s many honors by inviting him to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists.
The Carroll Chase Cup
2025 Jan Hofmeyr
Awarded to authors or creators of print, electronic or digital media concerning any United States stamp issued up to 1900; including postmaster’s provisionals, locals, carriers, and back-of-the-book material. For 2025 the Chase Cup is awarded to Jan Hofmeyr for his book “Philatelic Invention to Prevent Stamp Reuse, 1861-1881“.
Jan Hofmeyr was born in Beaufort West, South Africa in 1953. He has been married for 50 years and has 12 grandchildren. He lives in Victoria, Canada. He started collecting in 2005. He built an award-winning collection based on the 1861 3c of the USA. He retired the 1861 exhibit after getting a large gold in Prague in 2018.
He then built an award-winning collection based on USA philatelic invention from 1861 to 1881. This exhibit got a gold and the Royal of London Exhibition Medal as a 5-framer at the FIP show in Cape Town in 2022. As an 8-framer it got a national grand in Chicago in 2024. Then a large gold (97) at EuroPhilex in Birmingham where it was a candidate for the grand. It won the Champion of Champions at GASS in Chicago in 2025. He has since retired that exhibit.
Jannie built multiple award-winning one frame exhibits, the most well-known of which was his 1-framer on the grill stamps of the United States. It won national grands in South Africa and the USA in 2021 and 2023 respectively. It placed third in the FIP one-frame Show in Toronto in 2022. It went on to win the USA 1-frame Champion of Champions in Chicago in 2024.
Jannie belongs to too many philatelic societies. He is the USPCS VP for Canada and International; he’s the Royal of London’s West Canada representative; and in Victoria, he’s a committee member of the Victoria Stamp Club and a board member of the Wellburn Foundation. He is currently the sub-editor of the Essay-proof section of the Chronicle.
Jannie has written extensively about the USA’s essays and proofs for the 1860-1880 period. His work on USA essays and proofs has led to substantial revisions of the Scott catalogue. This is the third time that he’s being awarded the Carroll Cup. The first was in 2016 when he won it with Jim Lee for an article about essays and proofs in the Chronicle. The second was for his book on the grill stamps of the United States, published in 2023.
The U.S. Philatelic Classics Society congratulates Mr. Hofmeyr for his important contribution to the study and collecting of classic stamps.
