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  Jack McMahan, philatelic space history author

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Author Topic:   Jack McMahan, philatelic space history author
micropooz
Member

Posts: 1512
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 09-04-2009 08:22 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for micropooz   Click Here to Email micropooz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I just received the following e-mail from Ray Cartier:
Jack McMahan, author of McMahan's Philatelic History of the Conquest of space and three updates, passed away Thursday, September 3rd after a resurgence of cancer. He had lost a partial lung to the disease seven years ago. Although macular degeneration that started up around then had left him only a small about of peripheral vision, Jack was still working on his catalog updates as late as two weeks ago.

Jack served in the US Navy during WWII, participating in an elite group of predecessors of the US Navy Seals of today. He did advance reconnaissance for every one of the island invasions of the Pacific. I believe he told me that Tarawa was the worst in that while a life raft was picking up his team one by one, a shell hit the raft directly, and he, not having been picked up yet, was the sole survivor. Once Jack had to start going to the VA Hospital for his eyes, a great amount of the pent up survivor guilt he had experienced, came to the surface and he had a very difficult last few years. But his spirits were always up when collectors, especially space cover collectors, came to see him.

After having been taken to the cleaners by his partner in the insurance business he ran for years, Jack opened up a stamp shop in Houston. He brought in a couple of box cars to expand his square footage and a caboose, just because it was a fun thing to have.

My young family even camped out in his caboose on a return from the Gulf of Mexico many years ago and my three children have that as a cherished memory.

His office and his home served as a base for many gatherings of stamp collectors as he was a perfect host.

Jack is survived by his wife, Martha, and his nine children and their families. Astrophilately has lost one of its pillars with this honest and fine gentleman.

DChudwin
Member

Posts: 1096
From: Lincolnshire IL USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 09-04-2009 08:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for DChudwin   Click Here to Email DChudwin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Jack McMahan was one of the pioneers of space collecting. I never had the chance to meet him, but his cover catalog set a high standard that has not been matched. Condolences to his family. RIP.

AstroAutos
Member

Posts: 803
From: Co. Monaghan, Republic of Ireland
Registered: Mar 2009

posted 09-05-2009 07:05 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for AstroAutos   Click Here to Email AstroAutos     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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cosmos-walter
Member

Posts: 691
From: Salzburg, Austria
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 09-05-2009 07:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for cosmos-walter   Click Here to Email cosmos-walter     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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Apollo-Soyuz
Member

Posts: 1205
From: Shady Side, Md
Registered: Sep 2004

posted 09-05-2009 07:46 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Apollo-Soyuz   Click Here to Email Apollo-Soyuz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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Ken Havekotte
Member

Posts: 2913
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 09-05-2009 08:22 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ken Havekotte   Click Here to Email Ken Havekotte     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Unfortunately, never had an opportunity to meet Jack McMahan, but we did correspond and had some phone conversations throughout the 1970/80s. His comprehensive chronology of US missile and space events, published in 1972, even today is widely used by worldwide astrophilatelists as a reference guide and major resource in space cover collecting. So sad to hear of his passing and my condolences to his family and friends.

eurospace
Member

Posts: 2610
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 09-06-2009 06:04 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for eurospace   Click Here to Email eurospace     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
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spaceman1953
Member

Posts: 953
From: South Bend, IN
Registered: Apr 2002

posted 09-08-2009 07:54 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaceman1953   Click Here to Email spaceman1953     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Like many of my "space cover colleagues", I never met Mr. McMahan either, but couldn't miss his publications and be a respectable collector!

Sincere condolences to his family and friends.

DOX32
Member

Posts: 242
From: Lakewood Ranch FL USA
Registered: Jul 2004

posted 09-09-2009 10:12 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for DOX32   Click Here to Email DOX32     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have his autographed catalog that I will always treasure as a wealth of information to a novice space cover collector. Thank you Jack! Rest in Peace.

Condolences to his family for their loss.

fjmeckel
New Member

Posts: 2
From: Houston, TX, USA
Registered: Nov 2009

posted 11-10-2009 09:29 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for fjmeckel     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Notwithstanding the fact that it has been some 15 years since I last saw Jack, stumbling across this post caused me to feel the loss of a good man, and someone selflessly devoted to the hobby. His first shop in Houston was a block away from my office, and I had the pleasure of meandering his way every now and then to poke around as one does in stamp shops. Jack was very generous with his time and guidance, helping me develop a system and start building a more serious collection. During my visits I learned about the covers and his work cataloging them, and we spent a good bit of time exchanging ideas about space and what direction future travel might take. In Houston this is not that uncommon, but it took me some time to really place him in the proper context of the hobby.

I lost track of Jack when he moved his shop to another location, and seemed to never make it there during his operating hours. Worse yet, after I moved to Mexico, connecting became impossible. Still, I always thought of him as "the man". I still do. My condolences to his wife and family, but congratulations to Jack for having made a difference. Godspeed Jack.

micropooz
Member

Posts: 1512
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 11-11-2009 05:33 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for micropooz   Click Here to Email micropooz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Your name seems familiar from when I lived in Houston. Did you attend any of Jack's famous trade sessions, where we'd pack about umpteen collectors into his shoebox sized shop and trade space covers most of the night?

fjmeckel
New Member

Posts: 2
From: Houston, TX, USA
Registered: Nov 2009

posted 11-11-2009 03:09 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for fjmeckel     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
No, I wish I had. I think I missed the boat in being able to learn a lot from Jack. At the time I was trying to put my stamp collecting back on track. He became a mentor of sorts, and while he did give me a primer on covers, and I bought some from him, my focus was on stamps per se, albeit space stamps became one of my principal collections. I never made it into his store when he moved out of downtown. The downtown store was in a building on Walker, between Main and Travis, and it was already thinning out. It was the last building - to my knowledge - that had elevator operators. It used to be funny how the two elevator operators would almost fight over riders.

Anyway, on one occasion, I took my boss with me to see Jack's shop. I sent my former boss a link to this post, because we would recall the visit every few years. This morning he replied saying: "How can I forget that experience. Now I shall recall the visit with an added dimension. Much we do not know about the people we run into day to day."

I had never known of the particulars of his military service, but it did not surprise me, he seemed like that kind of guy.

My wife has learned to put up with my countless retelling of space events, and when in Houston I would try to attend or participate in as many space oriented activities as possible, but sadly, not Jack's cover sessions. Perhaps we met at some other event. I keep a place in Houston and hope to make it back to Space City before too long.

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