Charles J. Peterson Philatelic Literature Life Achievement Award

Charles “Charlie” Peterson (1933-2007) worked with the International Federation of Philately (FIP) and the American Philatelic Society to turn the idea of a competitive philatelic literature exhibition into a reality – virtually inventing the rulebooks for how to exhibit and judge philatelic literature. He singlehandedly lifted the bar for quality in philatelic publications. Charlie’s legacy is that of “integrity, scholarship, and the unrelenting desire to advance the collective body of [philatelic] knowledge,” qualities that were recognized in his lifetime with the highest accolades offered in philately – admission to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists and the APS John N. Luff Award (which he was awarded twice).

The Charles J. Peterson Award was established in 2010, nearly three years after Peterson’s death, and is awarded by the American Philatelic Research Library every year to a person who embodies the outstanding legacy that Charlie left behind. Peterson award winners are notable for their dedicated work to further philatelic knowledge through philatelic literature.

Wayne L. Youngblood

Wayne Youngblood is one of the most recognized names in the U.S. philatelic community. He is a lifelong stamp collector who, in addition to his many volunteer contributions to the hobby, has been a professional philatelic author and editor for nearly 40 years.

Youngblood has been an APS member for 49 years, serving a decade on its board of directors (three terms as an at-large member and two as secretary). He also serves as an expertizer for American Philatelic Expertizing Service (for 34 years, expertizing close to 3,000 items). He has taught APS Summer Seminar on Philately courses for more than 30 years, and is the society’s longest-term instructor (since 1991).

Youngblood began his professional involvement with the hobby as a staff writer and editor for Linn’s Stamp News, where his front-page news articles shed light on many new stamp varieties and USPS collecting policy. His columns, including “Collecting on a Shoestring,” “Stamps That Glow” and “Postal Counterfeits,” drew much attention to those collecting areas. He then served as editor of Scott Stamp Monthly, where he conceptualized, developed and wrote the still-running illustrated “Amazing Stamp Stories.” Later, he was named editor-publisher of Stamp Collector and Stamp Wholesaler newspapers, as well as serving as editor and publisher of several other collectibles titles spanning from comics and toys to records, postcards and movies. He is the author of 10 books (including eight on history and historical photography) and has had thousands of articles published throughout the philatelic world. His two philatelic books are Stamps That Glow and All About Stamps.

Youngblood currently produces original content for his own Substack page (wayneyoungblood.substack.com), maintains his website (www.wystamps.com) and edits the Civil War Philatelist (for the Civil War Philatelic Society) and Collectors Club Philatelist (for the Collectors Club, New York). He is past editor of several publications, including The American Stamp Collector & Dealer (for ASDA), Topical Time (for the American Topical Association), Airpost Journal (for the American Air Mail Society) and Across the Fence Post (for the Wisconsin Federation of Stamp Clubs), leading those that entered competition to gold-medal awards. He also was longtime American correspondent for the British publication, Philatelic
Exporter, and wrote extensively for most of the publications he edited. In addition, Wayne continues to write regularly for several publications (including The American Philatelist
and Linn’s), as well as his own online sites and has spoken extensively throughout the philatelic world.

Wayne was the 2018 recipient of the APS Luff Award for Outstanding Service to the APS, 2019 American Topical Association’s Distinguished Topical Philatelist, and has been inducted into the APS Writers Unit #30 Hall of Fame and the Wisconsin Federation of Stamp Clubs Hall of Fame. He also was among those honored by Linn’s Stamp News in 2022 as one of the world’s Most Influential Philatelists.

Thomas F. Allen Award

Thomas Allen (1942-2007) ran a successful private law firm in Cleveland after graduating with a Yale Law School degree in 1968, but his first passion was always stamp collecting. Thomas
was an expert on Ohio postal history, winning an international gold medal for his Cleveland postal markings exhibit. He also coauthored the book 19th Century Cleveland Ohio Postal Markings (1991), served as president of the United States Philatelic Classics Society, and served as president, secretary, and treasurer for many years with the Garfield-Perry Stamp Club.

The Thomas F. Allen Award was founded in 2013 to promote research and philatelic writing. It is awarded each year by the American Philatelic Research Library to the writer(s) of the best article to appear in the Philatelic Literature Review during the previous year. Past winners have shared new research or knowledge, or offered new and relevant discussions to well-studied topics.

Kyriakos Papathanassiou

“Understanding the Large Hermes Heads of Greece 1861-1886” parts one and two were published in the Philatelic Literature Review third and fourth quarter issues of 2023. The author, Kyriakos Papathanassiou, is a longtime scholar of the Large Hermes Heads issues, considered by many to be one of the most complicated stamp issues in the world, with a rich philatelic history. Dozens of volumes have been published on the Large Hermes Heads over the years. In
Part 1, Papathanassiou describes the development of the scholarship on this issue, which must be understood by experts, as well as the background of the issue. In Part 2, the author explains some of the aspects of the Large Hermes Heads that have been debated for years.

An excerpt follows:

“A deep study of this stamp shows it is a unique example of design, typographic artistry, and printing expertise evolution – now lost – creating, philatelically, the most difficult postage stamp to classify, with its continuous printing from the same printing plates for 25 years, that resulted in many rarities, many of which still remain unsubstantiated or even undiscovered.”

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