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The Cooper Connection

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.

Some people collect first day covers -- envelopes postmarked with the date a stamp 
was issued. They're called F-D-C's for short. And some of us collect COMBINATION 
first day covers -- with additional stamps related somehow to the new stamp. All 
the stamps might have been issued on the same date in different years...or in the 
same city...but more often, the stamps on combo F-D-C's are related by subject.

The recent Gary Cooper stamp had endless possibilities. For example, Cooper was a 
close friend of Ernest Hemingway, honored on a stamp 20 years ago. They hunted and 
fished together, Hemingway used Cooper as a model for some of his heroes, and Cooper 
starred in two films based on Hemingway stories.

Cooper was also a close friend of James Stewart, honored two years ago. And in 
"High Noon," he said this to Grace Kelly.

"They're making me run. I've never run from anybody before." 
RUNS :03

SHE was on a stamp in 1993.

He played Wild Bill Hickock, Lou Gehrig, Billy Mitchell and Sergeant Alvin York, all 
of whom have appeared on stamps.

But here's my favorite: In 1990...the Postal Service honored 4 great films of 1939 -- 
The Wizard of Oz, Gone With The Wind, Stagecoach, and Beau Geste. Cooper turned down 
the leads in Stagecoach and Gone With the Wind...and played Beau Geste.

I'm Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more on stamps and stamp collecting, 
and a look at next year's U-S stamp program, visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com. 

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