Bright Moments Posted March 26, 2005 Report Posted March 26, 2005 Canada to Issue Oscar Peterson Stamp By Ben Mattison 26 Feb 2005 Oscar Peterson Canada Post will issue a postage stamp honoring Montreal-born jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, Gibbons Stamp Monthly reports. The stamp will be released on August 1, to coincide with Peterson's 80th birthday. According to Gibbons, it is rare for Canada to issue a stamp of a living individual who is not a member of the royal family. Peterson began to perform publicly as a teenager, playing with a Montreal big band led by trumpeter Johnny Holmes. In 1949, he was introduced to American audiences when he appeared as part of impresario Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic series. In 1952, he formed a trio with guitarist Barney Kessell (later replaced by Herb Ellis) and bassist Ray Brown; it was the first of a long series of highly successful groups that also included bassists George Mraz and Sam Jones, guitarist Joe Pass, and drummers Louis Hayes, Bobby Durham, and Ray Price. In 1993, Peterson suffered a stroke, and did not perform for two years, but has since returned to performing and recording. The Canadian stamp will not be the first to honor Peterson; in 2003, he appeared on an Austrian stamp issued to mark the 175th anniversary of Bösendorfer, Peterson's piano manufacturer of choice. Quote
Bright Moments Posted March 26, 2005 Author Report Posted March 26, 2005 Oscar Peterson to be honoured with stamp By Hans Niedermair For the first time, a living person will be honoured on a Canadian stamp for being himself, when jazz legend Oscar Peterson gets the treatment for his 80th birthday later this year. Previously, when Canada Post has issued stamps depicting still-living people, they were said by the post office to represent a subject - such as the NHL or space exploration - instead of themselves. While the Oscar Peterson stamp certainly represents a first, Canada Post spokesperson Cindy Daoust downplayed what appears to be a shift in post office policy. "We have no policy against honouring living people on stamps," she said. "We do, however, have to wait until the person being honoured has a life's work to honour." She added that Canada Post honours outstanding Canadians "generally" after their death. This is echoed in Canada Post's "Criteria for Evaluating Suggestions for Stamp Subjects." Canada Post states that stamps must "commemorate people (generally after their death) - their work, their birth or an event in their lives - to recognize outstanding contributions to Canada." The full policy can be found on Canada Post's Web site at www.canadapost.ca. Canada Post spokesperson Tim McGurrin said this isn't a sudden policy change, but that this policy has been reworded by Canada Post "within the last couple of years," to make it clearer, noting that many other countries have recently gone in the same direction. What the Peterson stamp represents is the first time that the policy's word "generally" has been applied by Canada Post. "We had to ask ourselves whether this policy did a disservice to Canadians," he said in reference to the old policy of waiting until a person died. "Most people we've spoken to are very happy with the change." In fact, Peterson was not originally planned to be the first person honoured in such a manner by Canada Post. "An Ellen Fairclough stamp was approved as part of the program before her death last year," McGurrin said. The former postmaster-general died last Nov. 13, and would have turned 100 on Jan. 28. McGurrin said the post office still plans to issue a stamp honouring her around June. In regards to the Peterson stamp, the upcoming issue will likely open the door to more stamps honouring living Canadians. "I've always believed that Canadians prefer seeing stamps that they have a relationship with," Charles Verge, a member of the Stamp Advisory Committee and president of the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada, told the CBC. "Most Canadians don't remember dead politicians of 200 years ago and are not interested in them. They would be interested in seeing people who have some relationship to their knowledge base." In fact, Canada Post even used to enforce a "10 years after death" rule, which is still used by the United States Postal Service (USPS), where a person cannot be honoured on a stamp until 10 years after they pass away (although the USPS makes exceptions for dead presidents). In 1982, after much teeth-gnashing in Ottawa, Canada Post smartly did away with the 10-year rule in order to honour Terry Fox, who died of cancer in 1981. In the case of Peterson, this is actually the second time he has been honoured on a stamp. The Montreal-born pianist was featured on an Austrian stamp in 2003, along with his Bösendorfer piano, paying tribute to the piano manufacturer which turned 175 years old that year. "Mr. Peterson's legacy is well established both as an outstanding Canadian and a musician," Daoust said. "It is Canada Post's honour to commemorate Mr. Peterson and have him participate in the unveiling." The stamp's design is still a "work in progress," but Daoust said the stamp will likely be issued on Aug. 15, the date of Peterson's 80th birthday. March 22 to April 4, 2005 issue of Canadian Stamp News Quote
B. Goren. Posted March 26, 2005 Report Posted March 26, 2005 Oscar Peterson absolutely deserves this honor. I think also Glenn Gould deserves it. He was also Canadian and one of the great pianists of the 20th century. Quote
JSngry Posted March 26, 2005 Report Posted March 26, 2005 Does an Oscar Peterson stamp mean that your letter gets there twice as fast but has its meaning removed? Quote
couw Posted March 26, 2005 Report Posted March 26, 2005 Does an Oscar Peterson stamp mean that your letter gets there twice as fast but has its meaning removed? Quote
JSngry Posted March 26, 2005 Report Posted March 26, 2005 Yeah, I know, but it was just too easy. Quote
AllenLowe Posted March 26, 2005 Report Posted March 26, 2005 no, it should be a rubber stamp because all of Peterson's work sounds the same - Quote
couw Posted March 26, 2005 Report Posted March 26, 2005 no, it should be a rubber stamp because all of Peterson's work sounds the same - Quote
Bright Moments Posted March 27, 2005 Author Report Posted March 27, 2005 Well deserved. i agree! B-) Quote
Ted O'Reilly Posted March 28, 2005 Report Posted March 28, 2005 I hope it's a self-adhesive stamp. I'm not sure I want to have to lick his backside... Quote
marcoliv Posted March 28, 2005 Report Posted March 28, 2005 I hope it's a self-adhesive stamp. I'm not sure I want to have to lick his backside... Quote
B. Goren. Posted August 15, 2006 Report Posted August 15, 2006 Osacr Peterson is celebrating his birthday today. He is 81. I wish him good health and all the best. Quote
sheldonm Posted August 15, 2006 Report Posted August 15, 2006 Oscar Peterson absolutely deserves this honor. I think also Glenn Gould deserves it. He was also Canadian and one of the great pianists of the 20th century. I think Dan Gould deserves a stamp as well! Quote
Dan Gould Posted August 15, 2006 Report Posted August 15, 2006 Oscar Peterson absolutely deserves this honor. I think also Glenn Gould deserves it. He was also Canadian and one of the great pianists of the 20th century. I think Dan Gould deserves a stamp as well! If nominated I shall not run, if elected I will not serve. Quote
.:.impossible Posted August 15, 2006 Report Posted August 15, 2006 Sort of a scary stamp, if you ask me! Quote
BruceH Posted August 16, 2006 Report Posted August 16, 2006 Yeah, I gotta say, it doesn't look too good. Quote
Kalo Posted August 17, 2006 Report Posted August 17, 2006 It looks like a frame from the middle of a dissolve from one shot to another in a grainy black and white film. Quote
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