In Memoriam: Bill Weiss, A Great Man And Friend

My condolences. A sad day. I will miss his replies to the forum. A very knowledged man on stamps. Thanks for posting Don.

My condolences go to his family. I did not know him personally, but bought, sold and had stamps expertized by him. He was always straight forward and a gentleman in all of our transactions, as well as a driving spirit about combatting fraud on ebay, and contributing to Frajola's and this board. I will greatly miss Bill. RIP.

I only had the privilege to know Bill through this forum, but upon learning of my interest in New York Foreign Mail he contacted me to offer assistance. I benefitted greatly from that all-to-brief mentorship. Good bye, Good Sir, and Thank You! Rest in Peace. Amen.

This news was posted in the middle of the night, Paris time. Without knowing about it, on the morning of the 12th I boarded an early Eurostar train to London, did business there and ended the day at the Royal Philatelic Society for a superb talk by Amil Khouri who was showing his world class exhibit on the first Spanish Antilles issues and their uses. But for Bill, I would not have become serious about philately or arranged membership or trips such as this. At a time that must have been deep into his health problems, he wrote me personal emails advising on auction sources, and expertized stamps for me. Though we never met, his warmth came through his messages and gave me great encouragement. The torch has been passed and it is now up to us to live with the same spirit. Thank you Bill.

It made me really sad to hear about Bill. I am not too much into US stamps, but on the few posts I have had he offered me excellent and very friendly advice concerning a grill issues. Unfortunately he retired shortly after, so I never got to let him certify my stamp. Now I understand his unexpected retirement only too well. Heartbreaking to know he lost his beloved at this already very difficult time.

Apart from what is just so sad and hard to comprehend, I must say it also fills me with a good feeling to read all the great words of wisdom and friendship shared with all of you in this community. This really shows what all of you are made of, and it makes me proud to take part of this 'family'. Especially the very encouraging words from cjpalermo:


I am confident Bill is very proud of all of you and hopes for us to carry the torch. RIP Bill.

Jon

Like many others, I was surprised when Bill decided to retire and when it seemed that his business was truly thriving and he had more business than one man could handle.
Now in retrospect everything is much clearer.

It is difficult to o on when the love of your life has passed or a long time companion has passed. When you are ill yourself, "difficult" becomes impossible.

I first came in contact with Bill through his philatelic auctions in Bethlehem PA probably in the late 1980's. We have met perhaps once, and I am not completely sure about that but we have had innumerable communications on a variety of subjects and I have always found him to be knowledgable, friendly, generous, and truly passionate about the hobby.

Could he be crabby? Sure--aren't we all at times? He had forceful opinions from which he rarely deviated and he defended them forcefully as well. But even if you and him found yourselves on opposite sides of an issue, he did not treat you as small and insignificant, even though his philatelic knowledge was vastly superior to yours.

Bill left a little of himself personally to every interaction that I ever had with him. Even the wording of his certificates left you with the feeling that these items were actually handled personally. It is hard to define this but I believe it is true nonetheless.

Bill was an ardent spokesman for the hobby. By publicly standing up for what he believed even in the face of intense controversy or criticism, he displayed a lot of professional courage. But there is philatelic and professional courage and then there is courage in the larger issues of life.

It is now apparent that Bill had plenty of both.

My condolences to Mr. Weiss family. I dealt with him many years ago and he was very kind and informative.

I lost contact though long ago as my interests diverted from U.S. collecting.

A great man in philatelic and a wonderful research specialist in his field. I can see that he will be missed by many. His legacy will be retained for many generations to come.

When I was considering starting to collect Zeppelin covers, I wrote Bill a short email introducing myself and asking for any advice he could share on this topic. He enthusiastically replied to my questions, pointed me in the right direction with regard to reference sources and ended up selling me some of his material.

Thereafter, I would occasionally shoot him an email whenever I had a question with identifying a cover or using the Sieger catalog. He was always quick to reply and overly helpful. I used his expertizing service a few times and was always pleased with the level of response and professionalism.

I was looking forward to meeting him at the 2016 stamp show in NYC.

Thanks for everything, Bill. You will be missed here on these boards and throughout the U.S. philatelic community.

Sending my condolences to his family, losing a loved one is always hard.

-MV

I didn't know Bill personally, but I think it's safe to say that his contributions to philately will be remembered for many years to come. Thanks for everything you've done, Bill. You will be missed.

Don..I wish that you did not have to post this terrible news..I send his family/friends my prayers.

Robert

I agree with all that has been said, so very eloquently. Bill's passion for, and contribution to, philately is immeasurable. He was a kind and gentle soul, who gave more freely of himself, and inspired others, more than is realized, and is attested to, here, in these posts. It was an honor to have spoken to him, through this forum. He will be missed. My condolences to his family, friends, and those who feel the pain of his passing.

One day sometime ago, out of the blue came an email from Bill Weiss,
telling me that a stamp that I had for sale on ebay was a fake.
Without question, I immediately pulled the listing, since his
reputation had preceeded him.

A few months later, while adding a back scan of a previously listed
stamp, I discovered a grill pattern... adding over $1000 to the
stamp's value. Of course, I sent the stamp off to Mr. Weiss for a
confirmation.

Alas, the news was bad ... the stamp had been altered. While his
appraisal may have caused a substantial reduction in my stamps's
value, it also reduced Mr Weiss's fee from $100 to $5 ... some
thing that I'm sure never entered his mind.

Mr. Weiss, we and the Industry will truly miss you.

I bought this stamp on ebay many years ago and still have it in my US Collection. I had great luck chatting with Bill and he helped me identify a few early US stamps. Very nice person, friendly and helpful. It's so sad to hear he has passed away.

I learned of Bill's passing many days afterwards. It is now many days after that which I write to pay my respects. It is not easy for me to put my thoughts into words.

Despite wanting to, I never met the man in person. I did get to interact with him here on this forum and with some email chains. Fortunately, I did speak my peace with him via email around a week before his passing. I did not receive a reply and I will never know if he read my words, but I am glad that I got the chance.

I am thankful for his spirit of education, of which jump started my own. I am thankful for his questioning of the status quo, which helped boost my confidence in doing the same.

Bill was human as all of us are, but he displayed a level of confidence that few achieve. His voice was one that strived to speak for the betterment of this hobby. I sorely miss his presence.

Bill, I am so sorry to hear about the tribulations that you endured. I feel like Billy from Where the Red Fern Grows. I am glad that you and Addie no longer suffer from your afflictions.

Rest in peace, your spirit will never be forgotten.