An Unfounded Rumor: Akkineni Nageswara Rao Stamp

Here's an interesting piece that has been hitting the news outlets in India that states, in part, that:




http://www.deccanchronicle.com/1408...ageswara-rao

But come to find out, the rumor -- and that's all it was -- is totally unfounded and according to this Linn's Stamp News Report, the USPS has been unable to make contact with the Foundation that made the false announcement:




http://linns.com/news/us-stamps/794...n-movie-fans

One has to wonder how a rumor like that got started in the first place.

wt1, thanks for stomping out this ridiculous rumor. How absurd - Rao died last then a year ago which would violate the general policy on honoring individuals on US stamps, and he's virtually a complete unknown to most Americans including those who regularly go to the movies. Furthermore, I'm completely unaware of any major contribution that Mr. Rao made reflecting American ideals or humanitarian interests. I may just be ignorant of them, since I never heard of the guy before this post. I agree that there are many non-Americans who have been justifiably honored with a stamp, for example, Raoul Wallenberg (Scott 3135), Dag Hammarskjold (1203/1204), Shakespeare (1250) among several others.

Actually, I spotted the articles in the India news releases (and there are several) before the Linn's Stamp News report came out confirming it to be a hoax. I discounted it from the onset because no US news outlets picked up the story -- and as you said, the individual that was to be honored is a virtual unknown in the US (I never heard of him before, either -- until I looked it up).

Curiously, though, the issue of whether a person who died within the past year could be honored on a US stamp has more or less gone away. The latest Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee Guidelines has been adjusted to delete any mention of such a requirement. It opens the door for those who recently died -- or even for those still living -- to possibly be depicted on future stamp issues.

http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/csac/criteria.htm

Although many will cite the Harry Potter issue as one instance where living persons appear on stamps, the characters were depicted on the stamps and not the actual individuals mentioned by name.

Hello,

I have been following this "stamp" issue with interest as Akkineni is a well known actor, studio owner and philanthropist back in India. Checked this with the Akkineni Foundation about this. After looking at the image on internet, my guess is this is a custom stamp, not a regular USPS issue.

Another resource for researching contemporary Indian postal issues:

http://ipasporissa.blogspot.com/ ... the India Postmasters Blog

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey