TYVANYNG ONGNUKTERI
The Friends of Tuva Newsletter
Celebrating Richard Feynman's spirit of adventure

Published by Friends of Tuva, Box 70021, Pasadena CA 91117 USA
Fourteenth Issue: Summer 1996
Edited by Ralph Leighton

Hotline and fax: (213) 221-TUVA (-8882)
(If fax doesn't turn on automatically, press 33)
E-mail on the Internet: fot@lafn.org
Tuva Trader OnLine

We interrupt the Tuva adventure to bring you the following special message from the editor:

May 11, 1996
Richard Feynman's 78th birthday

Dear friends of Tuva and fans of Richard Feynman,

I hope this letter finds you well.

In two years, Richard Feynman will be eligible for a commemorative postage stamp to be issued in his honor.

You might think it's a ``no brainer'' that Feynman should be honored with a stamp: American born and educated, an original thinker whose impact went beyond physics to influence scientists around the world and millions outside of science who have read his popular books; a patriot who served his country in the Manhattan Project and on the Challenger Commission. But no; I learned that Richard Feynman was considered last year by the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee, and was rejected! Apparently, although enough people had written in on their own for him to be considered, there was not enough organized support for him to gain approval.

NOTE: I also learned that when a person has been considered and rejected, the letters that come in for the next twelve months after the rejection have little effect because there is a one-year moratorium on reconsideration. Now that the one-year moratorium has passed, I want to make sure Feynman is not rejected again.

Therefore, if you would like to see a Feynman postage stamp that will be seen by millions of people in the USA and by stamp collectors around the world, please follow these recommendations carefully:

1. Write a letter (with an impressive letterhead, if possible) explaining why Richard Feynman should be honored with a commemorative postage stamp. (For those writing from outside the US, it might help to mention that you, and many others like you around the world, would be interested in a Feynman stamp as a collector).
   
   
2. Address the letter itself to the ``Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee'' but do not send it to Washington, D.C. (See NOTE above.)
   
   
3. Address your envelope to: Feynman Stamp, Box 70021, Pasadena CA 91117 (USA).
   
   
4. If you would like to be kept informed about the status of this project, occasionally check the Friends of Tuva WWW site at www.FOTuva.org.  I hope to send a mountain of letters to Washington DC by the end of this summer!
   
   
5. Forward this message to anyone you know who is a fan of Richard Feynman, and who might be persuaded to write a letter of support. Spread the word by contacting friends, and by sending this message to any publication whose readership might be interested in seeing a Feynman stamp. Please emphasize that letters should be sent to Box 70021, Pasadena CA, 91117, so they can be gathered together ands sent all at once.

Thank you for reading this message. Please respond to it soon, while it's on your mind. A letter form you today will help bring Richard Feynman's smile to unsuspecting millions around the world in 1998.