In one of the most contested American Philatelic Society elections in recent years — while maintaining an air of civility — Mick Zais of South Carolina (right) has been elected President for a three-year term that begins at APS StampShow 2016 in August. [Links go to the candidates’ statements.]
Zais defeated Ken Nilsestuen of Ohio by a mere 3.5% of the vote.
For Board of Vice Presidents, the three-person ticket of Trish Kaufmann, Jeff Shapiro, and Bob Zeigler upset the slate that included incumbents Alex Haimann and Yamil Kouri, plus newcomer John Barwis. The “BVP” is the disciplinary body of the APS, hearing cases that cannot be resolved by an APS staffer.
For Secretary, a position that is rarely contested, Steve Schumann defeated Mark Butterline.
Former president Peter McCann (left) returns to the Board as a Director-at-Large, polling significantly more votes than any other candidate. He will be joined by Mark Schwartz, Rich Drews and Michael Bloom. The one candidate not elected was Gordon Eubanks, but less than 5 percent of the vote separated Eubanks from Schwartz.
Kristin Patterson and Steve Zwillinger, both coming off terms as Directors-at-Large, easily won election to the American Philatelic Research Library Board of Trustees. Hugh Lawrence was also elected to the APRL Board, in voting by Founders, Patrons and Fellows of the Library.
Here are the complete voting results released by the APS:
President
| *Mick Zais | Columbia, SC | 2,016 | 51.7% |
| Ken Nilsestuen | Akron, OH | 1,882 | 48.2% |
| Other | 3 | 0.1% |
Board of Vice President (run as a team of 3)
| *Patricia (Trish) Kaufmann | Lincoln, DE | ||
| *Jeff Shapiro | Fayville, MA | 2,220 | 56.9% |
| *Robert Zeigler | Indianapolis, IN | ||
| John Barwis | Holland, MI | ||
| Alex Haimann | St. Louis, MO | 1,676 | 43% |
| Yamil Kouri | Lexington, MA | ||
| Other | 4 | 0.1% | |
Secretary
| *Stephen Schumann | Hayward, CA | 2,151 | 55.9% |
| Mark Butterline | Maynard, MA | 1,698 | 44.1% |
Treasurer
| *Bruce Marsden | Short Hills, NJ | 2,306 | 59.8% |
| Edwin Andrews | Chapel Hill, NC | 1,549 | 40.2% |
Director-at-Large (Four Open Seats)
| Percentage of Total Ballots | |||
| *Peter McCann | University Park, FL | 3,049 | 77.2% |
| *Mark Schwartz | Philadelphia, PA | 2,748 | 70% |
| *Rich Drews | Palatine, IL | 2,724 | 68.9% |
| *Michael Bloom | Portland, OR | 2,627 | 66.5% |
| Gordon Eubanks | Pebble Beach, CA | 2,583 | 65.4% |
| Other | 8 |
APRL Board of Trustees
APS Member-elected (Two Open Seats)
| Percentage of Total Ballots | |||
| *Steven Zwillinger | Silver Spring, MD | 2,915 | 73.8% |
| *Kristin Patterson | San Jose, CA | 2,777 | 70.3% |
| Mark Banchik | Great Neck, NY | 1,322 | 33.5% |
| Other | 4 |
APRL Founder/Patron (Elected by Founders, Patrons, and Fellows of the APRL)
| *Hugh Lawrence | Encinitas, CA | 36 |
Even though the dust hasn’t settled yet on the 2016 U.S. international stamp show, work is under way on the next one, Boston 2026.
“We’re going to be taking up the entire convention center,” Clark told 
American First Day Cover Society Immediate Past President Chris Lazaroff is shown in this photo taking a sneak peak in Yellowstone National Park at what would become his 300th first-day ceremony in 50 states. That’s right: Chris has now attended at least one ceremony in every state, as well as a few territories and a District. I’ll have the story in an upcoming issue of Linn’s Stamp News.
Sundman Also Decides To Extend Reward Offer
Mystic Stamp Company president Donald Sundman in September 2014
Then, last month, Keelin O’Neil (right) of Belfast, Northern Ireland, brought the stamp in to the Spink USA auction house in New York, seeking to sell it. He had found it in his grandfather’s collection. Spink sent it to the Philatelic Foundation for an appraisal, and it was determined that it was one of the two missing stamps, although it had been altered to hide its identity.
recognized that the stamp was stolen, they contacted the FBI, so he wasn’t getting the stamp back, once it went to the Foundation.”
“This was good citizenship,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. “They did the right thing and they ought to be commended for it.”
“I told Roger [Brody, president of the APRL], ‘I’ve got to have a time limit on this, because I don’t want my grandkids to have to pay off this reward,” Sundman told 
To mask the stamp’s identity, someone altered the left-side perforations and regummed the stamp, which removed the penciled number applied in 1918. However, because the two-color printing process in 1918 was so rudimentary, the centering of each stamp is different enough that the Philatelic Foundation was able to identify it anyway.
The water soluble feature is available on the Classics Forever stamps, which will be issued during the show on Wednesday, June 1. The pressure-sensitive adhesive on the stamps make them water soluble, enabling philatelists to remove these special stamps from envelopes after they have been used by soaking them in plain water. This is the first time this feature has been included on a Forever stamp.
The USPS StampApp is the only official U.S. collecting app and the only collectibles app that includes an entire reference library along with user-generated content for philatelists to upload their own stamp collection. Designed for collectors and stamp enthusiasts of all ages, StampApp affords users beautiful, high-resolution imagery of the U.S. stamp archive, with details and production specifications that are important to collectors. Users can manage their personal collections on StampApp, knowing that everything is securely and permanently stored in the Cloud, where it is always accessible on all of their devices.
The Postal Service crosses philately’s digital divide with the brand new 2015 Postal Service eGuide to U.S Stamps.
The World Stamp Show Souvenir Portfolio is a coffee-table book that features information about each of the eight stamps to be released during the Show. The design elements in this book include lenticular, textured and even Augmented Reality sprinkled throughout the pages. It also includes sleeves for inserting the stamp panes being issued during the week of the show, which must be purchased separately. The August 2015 World Stamp Show-NY 2016 stamp pane is included. The Portfolio can be purchased at World Stamp Show-NY 2016.
From left to right, Master of Ceremonies Jamie Gough, “Alexander Hamilton,” Adm. Fargo, WSS-NY president Wade Saadi, Vice Admiral Joseph P. Mulloy, and Cochrane, cut the ribbon to start the snow.
The two Naval officers were a nod to New York City’s “Fleet Week,” an annual event where many U.S. Navy ships dock in the city and the streets are filled with sailors and Marines on shore leave.
members of his family. He also admitted that he was more of a “shoebox collector.” His holdings include “my prized mint plate block collection.” When he asked an expert about what to do with that collection, he related wryly, the response was “Have you ever thought of using it for postage?”
Cochrane mentioned that the USPS employs more than 113,000 veterans. He then announced 
Then there was a surprise speaker: Alexander Hamilton. The humorous speech was mostly about his life and times, and how even he can’t get tickets to the smash hit Broadway musical “Hamilton.” There wasn’t much philatelic content in his talk until at the end he mentioned the 1957 $5 stamp with his portrait on it.
the musical is based, and Hamilton 
Issue date: July 12, 2016
Hatched by designer Kosta Tsetsekas and illustrator Keith Martin, these stamps are the first in a three-year series celebrating Canada’s avian citizens. Our first flock includes five official birds: the Atlantic puffin (Newfoundland and Labrabor), the great horned owl (Alberta), the common raven (Yukon), the rock ptarmigan (Nunavut) and the sharp-tailed grouse (Saskatchewan).
subjects. He explains that, “You ultimately have to understand the physicality of these creatures.”
Forced to pick a favourite, Martin chose the puffin. “When it’s flying, it’s like a missile,” he says, “but when it lands, it always looks like it’s doing it for the first time. I wanted to reflect that quirkiness in my illustration.”
each bird in the 15-stamp series,” he smiles. “So, naturally, we’re eager to see them take flight.”
OTTAWA, May 26, 2016 /CNW/ – The mystery about the prehistoric creatures depicted in Canada Post’s exciting new Dinos of Canada stamp series is whether they are the hunters or the hunted.
The series, unveiled today, depicts five beasts from Canada’s geological past as reflections in the eyes of their prey or the predators stalking them. They are vividly illustrated by Sergey Krasovskiy, one of the world’s top paleo-artists.
Acrotholus audeti
Comox Valley elasmosaur
Cypretherium coarctatum
Canada’s first dinosaur, paleontologists later came to realize it was a mammal-like reptile. Its fearsome jaws were filled with serrated teeth and it likely used a sail on its back for display. It lived in what is now Prince Edward Island about 270 million years ago in, when it was hot and dry and located near the Equator.
Troodon inequalis
