Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph has been honored on United States commemorative stamps issued in 1968 and 1994.

A survey by FedSmith, a blog that writes about the federal bureaucracy, makes an interesting point about where the good-paying jobs in the United States Postal Service can be found. Not all the best jobs are in Washington or other urban areas, reports author Ralph Smith. He found many of the top salaries go to people who work “in the middle of nowhere — certainly not very close to any large metropolitan area.”

It is often said that an expertizing certificate is an essential when considering purchase of a stamp (or postal stationery item) represented to be a missing color. In the last couple of weeks, Linn’s readers have provided some excellent examples of why this is so.

The C.I.S.S. commenced its 2016 program with its Competitions Meeting held at the Royal Philatelic Society's headquarters in London on Feb. 20.

More than 125 people have signed up to serve as volunteers at World Stamp Show-NY 2016, but many more are needed, according to Mark Butterline, the show’s volunteer chairman. WSS-NY 2016 will take place May 28-June 4 in New York City at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 655 W. 34th St. (at 12th Avenue).

Sam Houston (1793-1863) was a soldier, Congressman, and president of the independent Republic of Texas. He also served as governor of two different states.

Federal Express Corp. may have seen its postal revenues drop by three percent in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, but its tab of almost $1.4 billion for carrying mail still was enough to make it the United States Postal Service’s top supplier in fiscal 2015. The Memphis-based carrier has held the top position as the leading postal supplier since 2002.

Born in Oklahoma City, author Ralph Ellison studied at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, served in the U.S. Merchant Marine, and lived in New York City.

There are stamps that carry the mail, stamps that pay taxes and fees, and stamps that do both. The multitasking postage and revenue stamps issued by many nations made good sense and saved money.

In anticipation of this day that usually comes around once every four years, I pulled my Leap Day folder from my filing cabinet of modern U.S. postal history. Inside were about a dozen or so covers, with Leap Day postmarks spanning roughly 120 years.

Multi-talented entertainer Dinah Shore (1916-1994) found success as a singer, actress and television personality for more than five decades, and was welcomed into America's homes as the host of The Dinah Shore Show.

Romania’s philatelic bureau, Romfilatelia, presents what it calls “curiosities and superlatives” on four stamps issued Feb. 24. In announcing the issue, Romfilatelia described the stamps as depicting “examples from areas such as art, coins, crafts and natural heritage, which impress by extraordinary sizes, spectacular shapes and stories … ”

Mary Lyon was a leader in women's education, and was instrumental in founding Mount Holyoke College, Wheaton College in Massachusetts, and the Ipswich Female Seminary.

The United Nations Postal Administration and India Post are participating in a joint issue for International Women’s Day, March 8. The stamps promote the United Nations’ “HeForShe” gender-equality campaign that urges men to stand up for the rights of their mothers and sisters. The campaign was developed by UN Women (the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.)

In a series of four auctions presented March 15-18 in New York City, Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries will offer the Don David Price collection of United States bicolor issues; the Steven Walske collection of U.S.-France trans-Atlantic mail; U.S. classic stamps (plus postmasters’ provisionals, essays and proofs, and modern errors); and U.S. revenues, federal duck stamps and prints.

American author John Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1962. His many books include Of Mice and Men, and Grapes of Wrath.

Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc., has been in business for more than 85 years and will be one of the official auctioneers of World Stamp Show-NY 2016.

Syria has been much in the news of late because of the ongoing civil war with tens of thousands killed, millions of refugees, the rampages of ISIS, Russian military intervention, and other sad events. Memories of a happier time can be found in the stamps of Latakia.

The only man in the history of the United States to serve both as president and as a justice on the Supreme Court was William Howard Taft (1857-1930). Taft was the 27th president of the United States (1909-1913) and the 10th chief justice of the Supreme Court (1921-1930).

Also this week, we profiled a stamp-hobby search engine, explained the rare-but-expected drop in cost of sending a first-class letter, and sought to find out exactly what S-D Day is.