Scouting, Volume 78, Number 4, September 1990 Page: 30
98, E1-E12, [8] p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The
Lure of
Collecting
Scout
Stamps
BY JEFF KLINKENBERG
Photographs by Acey Harper
Ifti
Harry Thorsen, founder
of the Scouts on Stamps
Society, shows Cub Scout
Christopher Orser and
Eagle Scout Michael
Ridener some of his
Scout stamps.
30
"T~ ~W~ARRY THORSEN JR, LIVES BY
■ m a golf course in Sarasota, Fla., but
# ■ not because he enjoys golf. He only
Jl. likes the view. "People can't believe
I live here but don't play," he says, admiring the
pine trees that line a fairway as green as a pool
table. Thorsen has a ready excuse for folks who
tell him to grab his golf sticks and join them. He
has no time for golf, he politely explains, because
of his Boy Scout stamps.
Thorsen, 76, owns one of the finest collections
of government-issued Boy Scout postage stamps
in the world. When he isn't working on the col-
lection, he's thinking about it or talking about it.
For Thorsen, collecting Boy Scout postage
stamps is as exciting, and as challenging, as a
pressure putt for a birdie. During his half century
in the hobby he has stalked stamps like a blood-
hound, scoured stamp catalogs with the dogged
September 1990 <^f Scouting
enthusiasm of a detective, and used the social
skills of a diplomat to communicate with collec-
tors all over the globe.
Scout stamp collecting has helped him learn
the history, geography, and culture of foreign
countries. He's used the knowledge to write
books and magazine articles about Scout stamps.
He has designed Boy Scout stamps that other
countries have published. He founded Scouts on
Stamps Society International, a club for collec-
tors. Harry Thorsen has introduced the hobby to
thousands of Boy Scouts and Scout leaders
around the world.
"I'm always asked how I found the time," says
Thorsen, whose 64 years in Scouting has brought
dozens of honors, including the Silver Beaver,
Silver Antelope, and Silver Buffalo awards. "But
you find time to do the things you love."
Thorsen, an energetic, white-haired gentle-
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 78, Number 4, September 1990, periodical, September 1990; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353668/m1/30/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.