For National Service
Deane Briggs
Deane Briggs has been active in Florida and nationalphilately for over 40 years. In 1992, he helped reestablish the Florida Postal History Society (Affiliate 227) and was elected president. Over the past 27 years he has held every officer position for the society and is currently its treasurer. From 1994 to 2008 he served as editor of the Florida Postal History Journal and has written over 225 articles for the journal. His writing credits also include several dozen articles for the Confederate Philatelist and LaPosta.
Deane was one of the editors of the first edition of Florida Stampless Postal History 1763-1861, as well as a co-editor of the second revised and extended edition, Florida Postal History 1763-1861, published December 2018.
Deane has been an active member of the Confederate Stamp Alliance (Affiliate 73), serving as a trustee, Vice-President, and most recently President from 2016-2020. The CSA published Deane’s award-winning book, Florida Postal History During the Civil War, which included a census listing of all recorded covers from Florida towns during the Civil War.
Deane was also an organizer of the Civil War Exhibition and Symposium held at the American Philatelic Center from October 24-26, 2019. The highly successful symposium showcased 125 frames of the finest Union and Confederate exhibits ever assembled.
Jack Andre Denys
Jack André Denys, a topical stamp leader and exhibitor, was president of the American Topical Association (ATA) for an unprecedented eight years, 2008-2016. During that tenure, Jack oversaw the hiring of its outstanding staff – Executive Director Vera Felts and Editor Wayne Youngblood – and led the association in visioning, fundraising, innovations, communications and its only net membership gain since the 1970s. He created the “Buck the Trend Fund” to which members have contributed almost $500,000 in 12 years. He promoted the inclusion of “Beyond the Catalog” items in ATA checklists, initiated the “Because You Belong” regular email messages sent to members, and created the ATA motto “About The Adventure.” In 2014 Jack received the ATA’s Distinguished Topical Philatelist award, its highest honor.
As a member of the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors (AAPE), Jack wrote four articles for its journal The Philatelic Exhibitor, receiving the Randy L. Neil Award for the best article in 2011, “Myth-Busting Thematic Rules.” In 2018 he edited the ATA handbook Topical Firsts and contributed significantly to the ATA’s new handbook Topical Adventures, to be published in August. He also taught a “Topical Collecting 101” course at the APS Summer Seminar on Philately.
Jack’s primary philatelic topic is the 950-year-old Bayeux Tapestry [BT] which depicts William the Conqueror’s invasion of England and victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. His BT exhibit earned the Association of Philatelic Exhibitors (AAPE) Diamond Award and countless other honors in national and international exhibitions.
As co-founder of the Albrecht Dürer Study Unit of the ATA, Jack served as president and as editor of its Dürer Journal for 20 years. He is currently in the process of resurrecting that organization.
Mentored by the queen of thematic philately, Mary Ann Owens, Jack has, in turn, mentored other topical collectors, including Dawn Hamman.
Larry Fillion
Larry has worked in the software field for over thirty years and has worked on hundreds of websites over his career. Significantly, Larry has created and maintained numerous philatelic websites, including the following:
In addition to serving as webmaster for the above, Larry has served in multiple leadership positions, including American Association Philatelic Exhibitors (Director), Malaria Philatelists International (President), and UNEXPO17 (Vice Chairman).
Eric Jackson
Eric Jackson began dealing in stamps while in junior high school, and has been a full-time dealer specializing in revenue, telegraph and local post stamps since 1979.
Eric has been a member of the American Philatelic Expertizing Service’s and Philatelic Foundation’s expert committees for over 30 years.
For the APS, Eric presently serves as Dealer Representative to the APS Board, a role he has held since 2012. He has assisted and co-taught numerous classes for the APS Summer Seminar.
Eric served on the American Stamp Dealers Association Board from 1998 to 2013, including as president from 2005 to 2009. He also served as an officer of the American Revenue Association for many years, and was its president from 2001 to 2008. Eric served on the World Stamp Show-NY 2016 Committee as the database and website manager. He is also a member of the State Revenue Society, Collectors Club of New York, U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, Carriers’ and Locals Society, and other philatelic organizations.
Eric has shared his expertise since 1980 to Scott Publishing Company for the U.S. Specialized Revenue section. He is currently working a new edition of The Springer Catalogue of United States Taxpaid Revenues.
Bobby Liao
Bobby Liao has been the Chair of the APS Translation Committee since 2008 and a volunteer translator since 2003. Over the past 12 years, Bobby has reviewed and processed more than 1200 requests from members whose items ranged from WWII POW postcards to 18th century letters and various cachets and philatelic articles. With the tireless dedication of 50 volunteer translators, the committee has deciphered and translated the equivalent of 450,000 words during this period.
Representing APS, Bobby was a consultant for the 2014 Pacific Exchange: China & US Mail exhibit at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. He coordinated and reviewed the translations for the exhibit created by curator Cheryl R. Ganz.
Charles DiComo
Dr. Charles DiComo is an individual who truly loves his hobby. He is the President of the Empire State Postal History Society and his local club, the Philatelic Society of Lancaster County (PSLC). Charles is the editor of Chairman’s Chatter, the newsletter of the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, and webmaster of three websites, including that of the PSLC, www.lcps-stamps.org, which is a model site for other stamp clubs. At APS Summer Seminar 2019, he taught an elective on how to use the website for communication and growth.
Charles has served for two terms as president of the PSLC and began a third term in 2020. Under his leadership, beyond the website’s changes, Charles also upgraded the PSLC stamp show program booklet, advertising cards, Facebook page, club banner, and even the Christmas Dinner program. Charles is the first to arrive and last to leave monthly meetings and annual stamp shows, as he is always ready to set up tables, chairs, and exhibit frames.
Beyond these accomplishments, Charles has a strong desire to promote other collectors and clubs. When someone has a philatelic question, Charles will conduct research and help the asker learn the research methods. He promotes other stamp clubs, if they so desire, by including them on the PSLC website with a page of their scheduled events and an archive for their newsletters. He has also included the local picture postcard club on the site.
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The Nicholas G. Carter Volunteer Recognition Awards honor the outstanding efforts of APS volunteers at the national, regional and local level, and also recognize our younger members whose contributions and abundant talents are crucial to our future.