Drews, Grabowski, & Klug 2014 Luff Honorees

The Luff Awards are the highest awards given by the American Philatelic Society. Established in 1940 in honor of prominent American philatelist John N. Luff, APS President from 1907 to 1909, the awards are presented each year at APS StampShow for meritorious contributions by living philatelists.

Richard E. Drews, Edward J.J. Grabowski, and Janet Klug received the 2014 John N. Luff Awards at the 2014 StampShow Awards Banquet on Saturday, August 23, in Hartford, Connecticut.

Drews, Grabowski, and Klug

Richard E. Drews (Palatine, IL) is the recipient of the 2014 Luff Award for Service to
Philately.

Rich makes things happen. His leadership abilities have resulted in a stellar record of accomplishment and have inspired others to work successfully for the betterment of the hobby.

Rich has been an APS member since 1976 and is a life member of the American Philatelic Research Library. He was a trustee for the APRL from 2009–2010. He was chairman of the APS Chapter Activities Committee from 1985–1987 and chairman of the APS Expertizing Committee from 1997–1998.

Rich has taught courses as part of the APS Summer Seminar and at various show venues on topics that include U.S. Grills, Fakes and Forgeries, the U.S. 1861–1868 Issue, Exhibiting for the Prize, and the Philatelic Marketplace. He serves as an Expert for the American Philatelic Expertizing Service, the Philatelic Foundation, Professional Stamp Expertizing, and Professional Stamp Authentication and Grading.

Founding member number twelve of the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors, Rich served on their board for eight years, including four as secretary. He is also well-known for his willingness to spend time and knowledge as a mentor for exhibitors.

Rich was executive director for World Columbian Stamp Expo 92 and served as both a board member and as the Clubs and Volunteer Coordinator for Ameripex 86. He prepared the Show Committee Manual on how to run stamp shows for the APS website. He has served as vice president of Compex and vice president of the Chicago Philatelic Society. He has been Speaker/Program Chairman and head of the Nominating Committee for the Collectors Club of Chicago. He established a stamp club at the Hines Veterans Administration hospital and supported it with free stamps and supplies.

The 1997 APS Champion of Champions for U.S. Issues of 1861-1868, his exhibits have reached large gold at the international level, and have been shown in the court of honor at several APS shows.

Nationally accredited as a philatelic judge in 1984, he has subsequently been accredited as a literature judge, as a chief judge in both disciplines, and at the FIP level as an international judge.

Rich has discovered and identified new material for the U.S. 1861–1868 issue, adding new listings of varieties to the Scott Specialized. He also has studied and made new discoveries in the field of U.S. Postal Counterfeits, and contributed to the new listings of this material in the 2013 Specialized. He is an internationally recognized expert in the philately of Lundy Island.

After retiring from his day job, he established Stamp King and Richard E. Drews Philatelic Auctions. These firms were noted for their customer-friendly approach, for working with law enforcement in stamp theft cases, and for ethical practices in dealing.

A generous donor, he is one of the original APRL Daniel Vooys Fellows, has sponsored the grand award for the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors Youth Champion of Champions, and the APS StampShow Youth Grand.

Rich has been recognized previously with the Saul Newbury Award for service to Chicago area Philately (1986), the Chris Hunt Award for philatelic achievement presented by chapter 5 of the Germany Philatelic Society (1991), and the Pennsylvania National Stamp Exhibition National Merit Award for lifetime philatelic achievement (2010).

Edward J.J. Grabowski (Westfield, NJ) is the recipient of the 2014 Luff Award for Distinguished Philatelic Research.

Since 1984 Ed has published more than forty articles in The American Philatelist, France & Colonies Philatelist, Collectors Club Philatelist, Bulletin de la COLFRA, Postscript, and Journal of the Society of Indo-China Philatelists. Subjects of these articles include French Colonies Group Type, Reunion Postage Due, Guadeloupe stamps and usage, Madagascar Gaoua bisects of 1908, St. Pierre & Miquelon mail rates between Guadeloupe and Madagascar, Indochina Military mail, and a detailed examination of the Allegorical Group Type Stamps. His Philatélie a la Française also was published in the Philatelic Foundation seminar series.

Most of Ed’s articles have been based on research discoveries. These extend to his three main areas: the Colonies General Issues, the Colonial Group Type, and Guadeloupe. His study in these areas has been recognized worldwide. He spoke at the Royal Philatelic Society London in 2007 and has given many talks at the Collectors Club and other venues.

His exhibiting success is also due in part to his research. His Guadeloupe (1851–1915) exhibit won the FIP Grand Prix d’Honneur at Washington 2006. He has shown four different exhibits on The French Allegorical Group Type. Additional exhibits include Reunion: The Use of Due Stamps in Lieu of Regular Postage, Dec 31, 1900–Jan 20, 1901 and Madagascar: Early Postal History. On the national level he has won six multiframe grand awards, and was the 2003 Single Frame Champion of Champions.

Ed is president of the Collectors Club of New York and served as a governor for the organization from 1992–2002 and from 2006 to the present. He was president of the France & Colonies Philatelic Society from 1980–1984 and has served on their board of governors from 1980 to the present. He is an overseas member of the Académie Française and a member of the Society of Postal Historians (UK), COLFRA, Union Marcophile, the Postal History Society, the France & Colonies Philatelic Society (UK), and the Society of Indochina Philatelists. An APS member since 1971 Ed serves on the APS Expert Committee. He was also Chairman of the 1996 Anphilex one-frame exhibition and is a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London.

Janet Klug (Pleasant Plain, OH) is the recipient of the 2014 Luff Award for Service to the APS.

For two decades Janet has done more than virtually any other member to support the APS and organized philately. She served as president of the APS from 2003–2007, as vice president from 2001–2003, and as secretary from 1997–2001. Including her service as past president. Janet served on the APS Board for sixteen consecutive years. She was also chair of the APS Committee on Accreditation of National Exhibitions and Judges from 1999–2003 and served on the Finance, Long Range Planning, Awards, and Chapter Activities Committees. Janet’s leadership also led to the Campaign for Philately to increase resources for the American Philatelic Society and the American Philatelic Research Library.

Janet also served as vice chair of the Council of Philatelists of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum from 2003–2007 and chair of the National Postal Museum’s New Initiatives Committee from 2009–2013. In 2010 she was appointed to the Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee and in January 2014 Janet was appointed chair of CSAC.

Janet was secretary/treasurer of the American Philatelic Congress from 1994–1998 and is a fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society in London. She was founder and editor of the journal for the Tonga & Tin Can Mail Study Circle from 1980–2000, also serving as president for about half of that time. She was president of the Clermont County Stamp Club from 1986–1995 and editor of its journal from 1990–1998.

She has written “Referesher Course” columns for Linn’s Stamp News since 2002. She wrote a Down Under” column for Scott Stamp Monthly from 1999–2010 and the “Starting Point” column for The American Philatelist from 1998–2003. Her writing has also appeared in Stamp Collector and Global Stamp News. Her recent publications include Guide to Stamp Collecting (2008) and 100 Greatest American Stamps (2007), which she co-authored with Donald Sundman.

She also authored the Catalog of Tin Can Mail, while her research on Tonga’s Queen Salote Definitives, 1920–1949 was published in the 1992 American Philatelic Congress Book. Her paper on “Picking Up the Pieces: the Aftermath of Hiroshima” was included in The Winton M. Blount Postal History Symposia Select Papers, 2006–2009. She has had other philatelic articles published in the Military Postal History Society Bulletin and the Society of Australasian Specialists/Oceania Informer.

Janet has also won many awards for her exhibits including a World Series of Philately show grand, a Grand Prix National in Australia, and an international one-frame gold. Notable exhibits include The De La Rue Engraved Definitives of Tonga, 1897–1953, Australian Occupation of Japan 1946–1952, Terror in the Jungle: Counter-Insurgency During the Malaya Emergency 1948–1960, I’ll Be Seein’ Ya: Five Years as Prisoner of War in Stalag VIII-B, Samoa’s Hut Definitives, and The 2d Queen Salote Definitive Stamp of Tonga 1919–1953. She has been a nationally accredited judge since 1991.

Janet has previously been recognized with the Philadelphia National Stamp Exhibition Lifetime Achievement Award (2007), the APS Writers Unit Hall of Fame (2010), and the St. Louis Elizabeth Pope Award for Lifetime Achievements (2011).

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A list of previous honorees is available on the APS website at www.stamps.org/Awards.

Nominations for deserving candidates may be made to the Luff Awards Committee, which submits its recommendations to the Society’s Board of Directors during the APS Spring Meeting. Awards are conferred each summer at StampShow, the Society’s annual convention and exhibition.

All nominations must be submitted to the Luff Award Committee in writing using an official nomination form. Nominations are active for five years. Nomination forms are available online at www.stamps.org/Awards in downloadable pdf format. You also may obtain a form by writing to: Luff Award Committee, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823.

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