1990 2Nd Quarter
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The Philatelic Communicator Journal of Writers Unit 30 of the American Philatelic Society ISSN 0147-3646 Volume 23, No. 2, Whole Number 88, Second Quarter, 1990. The President’s Message Strategies for Topical Writing By Robert de Violini By Ken Lawrence As soon as I got the First Quarter issue for 1990 it was time Topical stamp collecting—also known as thematic philate- to prepare this column for the Second Quarter. Let’s hope that ly*—is the wave ofthe present and the future. It has not Joe has had some better hick with Epson America in getting his displaced traditional collecting or postal history, but its popularity laser printer fixed than he has had so far. And also let us hope is greater than our literature reflects. that we can get back on track with a more regular schedule of To demonstrate this, I present as my first witness Richard W. publication of The Philatelic Communicator. It doesn’t help Helbock, writing in his flagship journal. La Posta: A Journal of attendance to read of a “ coming event’’ several weeks after it American Postal History. Though he’s a cover lover of the was held. traditional mold, Helbock is crusading to save our hobby from There isn’t anything wrong with Epson laser printers—the the threats that surround us on every side—from baseball cards new low-cost EPL-6000 model has received excellent re- tocomicbooks. ))Page35 views—it’s just that Joe Frye has one of their older models that has begun to show its age, and it has become difficult to get the * At the lofty level of national and international exhibiting in competition, people at Epson’s repair center to do their job correctly.* thematic has a distinct technical meaning, referring to the preferred methodof The current plans are for two issues of the PC between now organizing a topical collection for display. Here, however, I use the vernacular, in which topical and thematic are merely geographic dialect choices with identical and STaMPsHOW ’90 in Cincinnati, but in the event that Joe can meanings, as they do in auction catalogs or in the titles of publications. only get one issue out, please be sure to read and act on the information on p>age 42 about the WU Breakfast on Sunday, 26 August at 8:30 a.m. TABLE OF CONTENTS Writers Unit Breakfast tickets are available through the The President’s Message........................................................................... 33 ■APS’s preregistration procedure; the form will have been on the Strategies for Topical Writing ................................................................ 33 back wrapper of at least one issue of The American Philatelist by Correction ................................................................................................ 34 the time this reaches you. Printer Problems........................................................................................ 34 Diana Manchester is handling the program'arrangements, and D eadlines................................................................................................... 34 it promises to be something not to miss. We have received a Coming U p ................................................................................................ 36 number of Uterature donations for door prizes, and there will be “Who Steals My Purse ... By any Other Name ” ................................ 37 Getting Writers to W rite........................................................................... 37 some interesting and surprising items those at the breakfast might How I Produce My Club Bulletin ........................................................... 38 win. Publishing Your Club History ................................................................ 39 There will also be a Writers Unit meeting at STaMpsHOW. [Desktop Publishing] 2 .............................................................................. 40 This will be at 2 : ^ p.m. on Saturday afternoon. At a suggestion Pick of the Litter-ature Award HI ........................................................... 41 from Diana—she has a lot of good ideas—the meeting topic will Writers Unit Meeting at STaMpsHOW ’90 ........................................... 42 Writers Unit Breakfast at STaMpsHOW ’9 0 ........................................... 42 revolve around tools to use to improve your publications’ L etters........................................................................................................ 42 appearance with other than computer techniques. I am certain that Review s..................................................................................................... 48 this will be a very interesting and informative meeting for all. Jay Stotts Wins BIA Literature Award ................................................... 56 I hope that many ofyou will make the effort to visit STaMp- American Philatelic Congress Awards..................................................... 56 sHOW ’90, and to attend both the Writers Unit meeting and the The Story of Herat’s Outbursts................................................................ 56 Writers Unit Breakfast. The Role of the Editor’s Column............................................................. 57 A Few of the New Printer’s Typefaces................................................... 58 See you there. ■ Whom Did You S ay ?................................................................................ 59 * The Issue is Completed (See “A Few . , ” page 58) ..................... 59 See “ Printer ..., ’’ p. 34; “ The Issue ..., ’’ p. 59. j f f Secretary-Treasurer’s R e p o rt................................................................... 60 33 The Philatelic Communicator The Philatelic Communicator, quarterly journal of Writers CORRECTION Unit No. 30 of the American Philatelic Society, 2501 Drexel St., Vienna, VA 22180, is produced and mailed for Writers Unit 30 Here’s one for all you software mavens: In Myron Hill’s article on Stamp Market Tips, page 5, top of by Joe F. Frye, telephone [901] 327-8984, P.O. Box 22308, the second column, in the last issue should read: Memphis, TN 38122-0308, other individuals and/or firms. * 500, type la, the 2-cent flat plate printing of 1917. Ross said The journal is mailed by: Bulk Rate, permit 957, Memphis, that the Scott 1984 price was $300 and a good buy at that price. TN to U.S. Zip code addresses; First Class Canada and Mexico; Present Scott is S200. It retails now for $67.50 F-VF and $135 VF AO Airmail (Printed Matter rate) to all others. Please report or better. Ouch! address changes to Secretary-Treasurer as soon as known in order It did read that way whenJoe Frye sent mehis firstprintoutof the text, but in re-formatting to fit the pages, the underlined words to avoid loss of issues. disappeared, ruining Myron’s point, and I failed to catch it in proofreading the second printout, because I was looking mainly for All matters involving Writers Unit 30 business except errors in copy I had changed, and only skimming copy that I had ap- editorial matter for thisjournal mustbe handled through the proved. Secretary-Treasurer: Joe and his computer also dropped the colunui headings for Myron’s Table II on page 67 after I had approved it. The middle column gives U.S. retail prices when recortunended in 1973, and the George B. Griffenhageh right column gives dealers’ buying prices in 1990. 2501 Drexel Street Editing this publication is a labor of love for me. Unlike some Vienna VA 22180-6906 (703) 560-2413 kitchen-table publishers, I do proofread the copy. The errors that appear after I have checked it are the ones that break my heart. Editorial matters must be handled with the editor: Those kinds of mistakes, common in the computer era, were almost nonexistent in the movable-type era. My apologies to Myron Hill, and to readers. Ken Lawrence P O Box 3568 Jackson MS 39207 (601) 969-2269 Officers of Writers Unit 30, a nonprofit corporation, in Printer Problems addition to the Secretary-Treasurer and Editor, are: By Joe F. Frye Robert de Violini President Over six months calling local, regional, and national offices Box .5025 of Epson America by both the local authorized Epson deal- Oxnard CA 93031 (805) 983-4741 er—who sold me the GQ-3500—and myselfbrought one call from Epson in California about mid-June. They wiU do' nothing, since John T. Nugent Vice-President, East the dealer used the GQ-3500 as a demonstrator. One Barristers Court I have accordingly purchased a new Hewlett-Packard Meriden CT 06450 LaserJet III, and am so far delighted with it. You are looking at its work on this issue, and comments welcomed from all. Tom Current Vice-President, West Epson did not even suggest repairing the GQ-3500—even at P O Box 4586 my expense. The matter is not closed as far as I am concerned, Portland OR 97208 and I will advise of further developments. As I made final adjustments prior to printing the camera- Council readies for this issue on July 16, another call came from Epson. Prompted by my refusal to pay American Express for a couple Ernst M. Cohn John E. Foxworth, Jr. hundred dollars’ worth of new parts—suggested by Epson Diana Manchester George M. Martin customer Service and installed but not helping the problem, they Randolph L. Neil Steven J. Rod did authorize return of the parts, and they were UPS’ed today. William L. Welch Joe F. Frye (Chairman) The person I talked to was horrified by the problems mentioned and promised to have someone call me about repairs to the Epson laser. I won’t hold my breath. As you know, I had no printer after the Epson