The 2006 Commemorative Stamp Program (USPS)
Comments(49) [Here are only a few stamps offered next summer]:
Katherine Anne Porter
Also in May, Pulitzer Prize winning author Katherine Anne Porter will be the 22nd honoree immortalized on a stamp in the Postal Service’s Literary Arts series. Born in Indian Creek, TX in 1890, Porter taught at Stanford, yet she never graduated from high school. The “Katherine Anne Porter” stamp depicts her profile with a ship in the background. Porter is best known for writing “Ship of Fools” (1962).
[I am using James Boyd White’s summary of Porter’s “Noon Wine” as an example in a paper I am finishing for Rhetoric and Poetics. BK]
Judy Garland
In June, Judy Garland becomes the 12th honoree in the Legends of Hollywood series. In 1940, Garland won a special Academy Award “for her outstanding performance as a screen juvenile” for her performances in the 1939 films Babes in Arms and The Wizard of Oz. “Over the Rainbow” is one of the many classic songs she introduced to her audience. The “Judy Garland” stamp image is based on a publicity photo from A Star is Born, and the side of the stamp sheet depicts her as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.
[Karla Lyles, a colleague from the English department, has been working with the Oz series all semester for a research guide project in Bibliography. BK]
American Motorcycles
During the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, SD, the role of motorcycles in American culture will be recognized on four “American Motorcycles” stamps featuring digital illustrations of a 1918 Cleveland, a 1940 Indian Four, a 1965 Harley-Davidson Electra-Glide, and a circa 1970 chopper. The Cleveland, Indian and Harley-Davidson stamps are based on motorcycles in existence today. The circa 1970 chopper featured on the stamp was created by stamp artist Steve Buchanan in consultation with professional chopper builders. Although lacking various safety features such as mirrors and turn signals that are usually required under today’s laws, this chopper would have been street-legal in 1970.
[My Dad owns a Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail that he cannot ride now because of winter in Wisconsin. BK]
category: Popular Culture