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  [California Study Center]

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PITCAIRN ISLANDS STUDY CENTER, Pacific Union College, Angwin, California USA.

Herbert Ford, 559-592-0980, 559-732-0313.

VETERAN STAMP DESIGNER ASSIGNED TO CREATE PITCAIRN ISLANDS DARWIN ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

                        ANGWIN (Napa County) Calif., April 15, 2009—The international efforts of Pitcairn Islands philatelic enthusiasts is bringing a highly regarded British stamp designer back into the Pitcairn Islands stamp design fold to create the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin stamp.

                        The stamp's issue date is June 24, 2009.

                        Veteran British stamp designer Jennifer Toombs of Suffolk, England, has been chosen by the Pitcairn Islands Philatelic Bureau in Wellington, New Zealand to design the Charles Darwin issue. The Bureau's selection of Toombs is good news to stamp collectors around the world.

                        For more than 20 years, from 1966 to 1987, Toombs was a designer of Pitcairn stamps, creating more than 30 issues. A long-time favorite with stamp collectors, her work was missed when the Bureau decided to use other artists in the late 1980s.

                        Pitcairn Islands philatelic enthusiast Walter Kramarski of Mt. Prospect, Ill., concerned over Ms. Toombs long-time absence from design a Pitcairn stamp, began a write-in campaign to petition the Pitcairn Islands Philatelic Bureau to once again elect her designing services.

                        The designer of stamps for over 80 countries, Toombs has done a steady stream of stamp designs for the Crown Agents. Among her designs are over 110 Christmas sets.

                        Further details about the upcoming issue may be obtained from Russell Watson of the Bureau at P.O. Box 27404, Marion Square, Wellington 6141, New Zealand, or at stamps@pitcairn.gov.pn.

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