Flannery O'Connor, one of my favorite short story writers, lived a tragically short life, dying of lupus in 1964 at age thirty-nine. Sadly, she did not live long enough to see the collection of her short stories, The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor, win the National Book Award in 1972. By public vote, the collection was later named "the Best of the National Book Awards 1950-2008" so it is easy to see that O'Connor's work is still loved and appreciated today.
And she is being honored this week by the issuance of a "Forever Stamp" covering the postage cost for three-ounce and lighter packages.
According to the U.S. Postal Service:
The 30th stamp in the Literary Arts series honors Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964), who crafted unsettling and darkly comic stories and novels about the potential for enlightenment and grace in what seem like the worst possible moments.
The color portrait on this stamp, a watercolor painting completed digitally, is based on a black-and-white photograph taken when O’Connor was a student at the Georgia State College for Women from 1942 to 1945. Surrounding O’Connor are peacock feathers, a symbol often associated with the author.
The 93 cent stamp can be ordered can be ordered in a variety of combinations and presentations directly from this link. I love this stamp...isn't it a beauty?
I read Brad Gooch's biography a few years ago and liked that it gave a lot of information concerning things I'd read about in The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor. Yep, I'm a fan, too. The stamp is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look for that biography...and the letters. Have read neither of those.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely stamp. And what a relief they didn't put a mis-attributed quote on it like they did for Maya Angelou!
ReplyDeleteLet's hope that something good came from that whole Maya Angelou stamp fiasco. Surely, the Post Office people won't make THAT mistake again.
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