Weekly Whitman: A Postage Stamp

A few weeks ago, I got an email from a Weekly Whitman reader who shall remain nameless because I have lost the email somewhere between my phone and the desktop. He asked me if I had seen the Walt Whitman stamp. Well no—I had not, but it only took minutes before I had it on my screen, and another few minutes after that for me to have it ordered. It is my pleasure to share it here. And if you are reading this now, good sir, please respond and claim the credit.

The Post Office tells us: On September 12, 2019, in Huntington Station, NY, the United States Postal Service issued the Walt Whitman stamp in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive pane of 20 stamps. With this stamp, the 32nd issue in the Literary Arts series, the Postal Service honors poet Walt Whitman (1819–1892) on the bicentennial of his birth. The stamp features a portrait of Whitman based on a photograph taken by Frank Pearsall in 1869. In the background, a hermit thrush sitting on the branch of a lilac bush recalls “When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom‘d,” an elegy for President Abraham Lincoln written by Whitman soon after Lincoln‘s assassination on April 14, 1865. The artist for the stamp was Sam Weber. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamp. The words “THREE OUNCE” on this stamp indicate its usage value. Like a Forever® stamp, this stamp will always be valid for the rate printed on it.



3 Responses to Weekly Whitman: A Postage Stamp

  1. Meg, I made a reply to your comment in the article “US Government Financing of the Civil War”. I mentioned the Walt Whitman stamp. Someone else must have sent an email about the stamp. I really like the thinking pose of the stamp.

    1. Nope–it was you!! Thanks so much. I often wonder if folks get tired of a poem every week. I try to break it up with other things, and this is perfect–that, and it is a lovely stamp! Thanks, LARRY DE MAR!!

      1. You’re welcome! Love the Walt Whitman articles and poems. Love your writing, looking forward to your new book.

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