AJANET KLUG


By Bill McAllister, Washington Correspondent
Stamp collector Janet Klug has been named by the United States Postal Service as the new chair of the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, Linn’s has learned.

Klug, a former president of the American Philatelic Society and current CSAC member, will replace Jean Picker Firstenberg, a former chief executive of the American Film Institute, during one of CSAC’s most turbulent years.
Members of the committee, which selects and develops subjects and designs for U.S. stamps, walked out of a September meeting upset over what they said was the committee’s reduced role in the U.S. stamp-selection process.
The committee, whose sessions are usually kept confidential, demanded a meeting with Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe.
Donahoe has not met with the committee, but has said he believes that CSAC needs to be more willing to deal with more commercial themes on stamps. He also has suggested that the committee might have to reduce its number of Washington meetings to twice a year instead of meeting four times a year.
Klug was named to CSAC in March 2010 by Postmaster General John E. (Jack) Potter.
In the release announcing her appointment in 2010, she was described as a lifelong stamp collector who “never met a stamp she didn’t like.” “Janet brings a wealth of expertise and knowledge to the committee,” Potter said at the time. “She represents one of the many voices of the stamp-collecting community, and we welcome her to CSAC.”
An Ohio resident, Klug is a frequent contributor to Linn’s Stamp News and other stamp publications.
Firstenberg declined to be interviewed on her departure from the panel.
“Thanks for the invitation, but I think I will let the stamps issued during my term speak for themselves,” she told Linn’s. “I am proud to have served on CSAC.”

Courtesy Linn’s Stamp News