Usually Talking: All 33 columns, plus just a few philatelic phrases from Keller

For nearly three years, novelist and short-story author Lawrence Block’s month-to-month column, “Usually Talking,” was one of the crucial widespread options in Linn’s Stamp Information. A basic collector of pre-1940 points, Block had the complete world of stamps as his topic, and he turned in 33 columns earlier than he determined it was time to cease.

However Keller, the creator’s fictional character, by no means misplaced his enthusiasm for philately. A wistful and introspective killer for rent, Keller rekindled a boyhood ardour for stamps on the finish of Hit Man, the primary of a collection of books about him. Like Block, Keller collects the entire world by philately’s first century. (How’s that for coincidence?) And the character of his occupation provides Keller extra discretionary revenue than Block—and much more cash to spend on stamps.

Revealed right here for the primary time is the complete run of columns from Linn’s, together with six choices from the Keller saga chosen for his or her philatelic perspective.