As you will read elsewhere in this journal, we are honored to report that Yamil Kouri has been awarded the Lichtenstein Award for 2025. For me, both the selection process and Yamil’s choice are particularly special.

First things first. I had the opportunity to sit in on the Lichtenstein Award Committee – not because I was a past winner (far from it!), but because, as president, I am ex-officio on committees. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been there. For me, it was an eye-opening experience. For every nominee, we receive not only a completed nomination form but often their philatelic CV, which is usually a marvel to behold.

Yamil’s philatelic CV spans 14 pages. Keep in mind, he is a physician with an active clinical practice. Within that CV, I counted 196 published articles across 24 different journals. He has presented at numerous meetings and conferences. As an exhibitor, he has earned countless Gold and Large Gold medals at World Series of Philately (WSP) shows, as well as many international and Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) Gold and Large Gold awards. His Gold and Large Gold exhibition awards alone take up more than a full page.

In addition, Yamil has served as a philatelic juror, chief juror, commissioner, vice president of the APS, member of the Federación Interamericana de Filatelia (FIAF) board, chairman of the Spellman Museum, and director of Boston 2026.

He is a member of nearly every philatelic organization I have heard of and has also served as president of the Cuban Philatelic Society of America and the Postal History Society. Notably, he is the only numbered member of the Real Academia Hispánica de Filatelia e Historia Postal and serves on its governing board.

He has been a journal editor and contributor to numerous American philatelic publications. His body of work includes seven books and 10 monographs.

His achievements have been widely recognized: he is a recipient of the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society (USPCS) Ashbrook Cup, a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society, a USPCS Distinguished Philatelist, a Luff Award winner and a signer of the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists.

There is one more thing I want to highlight. On Dec. 30, 2021, at 3:53 p.m., I sent Yamil a question about a postcard. I needed help understanding the circular datestamp on the card. It read “Bagley, Cuba,” April 22, 1909. The name “Bagley” didn’t sound Cuban to me. What gives?

At 4:02 p.m. – just nine minutes later – I received his response:

“It was a U.S. post office within the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay that opened in 1907.

“It was named after the first U.S. officer killed during the Spanish-American War, Ensign Worth Bagley. I have a few letters to his family and remember his statue on the grounds of the North Carolina State House (one of my daughters lives in NC).”

This amazes me – not just his encyclopedic knowledge and lightning-fast recall, but also his eagerness to share and help. To me, this is the true measure of his character.

Sitting in the committee meetings has been a privilege. It has given me insight into the commitment and dedication of some of the finest philatelists we have walking about. The Lichtenstein requires performance at the highest levels across several criteria:

• Philatelic leadership
• Philatelic Research & Publication
• Philatelic Exhibiting or collecting achievement
• Previous honors and awards

If an individual has contributed at the highest levels in just three of these four, the gap from the missing fourth will stand in the way. There has to be excellence across all four. Not a trivial matter.

There is a video monitor on the wall of the lounge of our Club, and the names of all past Lichtenstein winners flash through on the screen in sequence. It is an enormous testimony to the contribution each has brought to our hobby and an inspiration for us all.

–Lawrence Haber