About Author
Dr. Wilcox has been collecting stamps since his dad gave him a stamp album that his father himself had put together as a young boy. Dave’s collecting interests have touched on just about every aspect of both US and World philately.
The author once dreamed of filling every space in the earliest albums in Scott’s International Series. Then he turned to specialized areas in U.S. philately: everything from regular US issues, Embossed Revenue Stamped Paper, Beer Stamps, Hunting Permit Stamps, and Sanitary Fair stamps. Carrier and local stamps, however, were always his first true love.
As one of the original members of the Carriers and Locals Society, he has spent the last thirty-four years studying these poorly understood companies. The earliest of these companies carried client mail outside of the government Postal Service for just 18 months in 1844 through the summer of 1845, but they altered the direction of the US Postal Service forever.
Dr. Wilcox is a life member of the American Philatelic Society, as well as member of the US Philatelic Classics Society, the Collectors Club of NY, and the Carriers and Locals Society.
Dave is the 2024 winner of the Robert P. Odenweller award for Best Article in the Collectors Club Philatelist, for his two-part work “The Independent Mails Cover Survey.”
He has published more than thirty philatelic journal articles besides the articles in scientific journals and a chapter in a text on Contemporary Genetic Engineering Research.
While earning a living as a Genetic Engineer at Abbott Pharmaceuticals in Chicago, he raised twin boys and now has six grandchildren. He has presented his genetic engineering research at major conferences both in the U.S. and internationally.
He has a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Rochester and four years of post-doctoral studies in Genetic Engineering. His hobbies include stamp collecting, bird watching and vinyl record collecting.
