"Ed Lettick was an established, internationally recognized, and honored aerophilatelists long before I met him, circa 1986-88. Then, our association was one of a "rookie" air mail enthusiast in his sixties questioning the airmail "pro" in his seventies about U.S. Pioneer airmail. Ed welcomed my queries about air mail and was always willing, even eager, to share with me his broad and accurate knowledge of its history. And he was equally prepared to point out the inaccurate air mail "histories", too. These he would roundly condemn, often stridently, sometimes publicly, but always deservedly. Ed knew air mail! And one soon knew that what Ed knew about air mail was really worth knowing, the facts as well as the folklore.
We became good friends and I valued my friendship with this gruff and direct, but a principled, honest, and generous fellow; a man to take a stand and keep his word. He held high office in the AAMS, AFA, and MAPS, and remained thereafter an active stalwart for each society despite his ongoing battle with several life threatening illnesses any of which should have been reason for him to still his activities. Ed wasn't a man to stay still.
He exhibited nationally and internationally, garnered Grand Awards at the shows, was elected to the AAMS Hall of Fame, and twice received the MAPS Gus Lancaster Prize. He contributed to the production and publication of the AAMS Catalogues. In all, Ed Lettick, for half a century, was a consummate aerophilatelist.
Ed's contributions and achievements are not to be forgotten, but I'll remember him as my forthright friend who, with untiring and infectious enthusiasm shared his encyclopedic knowledge of air mail history with me so that its study became a compelling interest and continuing source of pleasure for me.
