USPS: Living to be honored on stamps

Acclaimed personalities will no longer need to be dead to get the U.S. Postal Service's stamp of approval.

The postal service said Monday it will end its policy that an individual must be dead for five years before being featured a stamp. The rule has been in effect since Jan. 1, 2007.

Before 2007, the rule was a person had to be dead for 10 years before such an honor.

"This change will enable us to pay tribute to individuals for their achievements while they are still alive to enjoy the honor," Lorraine Castellano, district manager for Long Island, said in a news release. It goes into effect next year.

Increasing an interest in stamp collecting could help boost income for the cash-strapped postal service since stamps that are collected rather than used for postage provide an added source of income. The service also is asking users of social media to submit names of individuals to honor.

"We're inviting our customers to submit the top five living individuals they would like to see on stamps through Facebook and Twitter," said Dennis Guerin, Long Island marketing manager for the postal service.

Customers also can mail suggestions the old-fashioned way, with a stamp, to: Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, c/o Stamp Development, U.S. Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Room 3300, Washington, D.C. 20260-3501.

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Postal service spokeswoman Connie Chirichello said 40,000 suggestions a year are received. The list is whittled to about 50 recommendations, which are sent to the postmaster general for a final decision. With AP