About This File
We've been very fortunate to have an outstanding cadre of contributors to the pages of The Celator these past seven years. Many of our authors and columnists have been recognized by the Numismatic Literary Guild for the excellence of their work. We are as proud of their accomplishments as they themselves must be. The NLG award program is open to international competition, and The Celator is a relatively small publication in comparison to many of those considered for awards. The selection committee meets in the weeks preceding the ANA summer convention each year, and their choices are announced at an annual NLG Bash which is held on one of the convention evenings. It is a rather irreverent affair, all things considered, but the awards are highly coveted and a source of pride to the recipients.
This year, in Baltimore, The Celator was recognized, through its contributors, in several areas. Anthony Milavic's article "Olympia: The Place, The Games" was selected as Best Article in the World Numismatic Magazine Classification. This classification is essentially the only one in which The Celator is eligible to compete. This year, we not only competed, we dominated. In the Best Column category, David Hendin won the NLG award for his regular Celator feature "Coins of the Bible". The Best Issue award went, for the third time, to "The Best of The Celator".
In the Numismatic Book classification, Frank Robinson's "Confessions of a Numismatic Fanatic" was recognized with an NLG award of Extraordinary Merit. While Frank richly and solely deserves the credit for his delightful dissertation, we are nevertheless proud to have been the publishers.
We have greatly enjoyed another extraordinary column, which the NLG sadly failed to recognize. Their omission is perhaps understandable if one considers that few on the panel of judges could ever begin to comprehend this column's tremendous value to collectors of ancient coins. We all understand and appreciate its enduring value and owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Dennis Kroh for sharing his seemingly inexhaustible and candidly rated bibliography with us. You all remember the Good News- Bad News routine; well, we have some bad news. Dennis' bibliography is not inexhaustible. In fact, this month's "Reference Reviews" will be the last of this fine series. The good news is that Dennis is publishing his entire and much expanded set of re views, and it is expected late this year. More bad news; we didn't get the publishing job, so the competition will undoubtedly stiffen in the Book Category next year. We extend our deepest appreciation to Dennis, on behalf of myriad Celator readers (OK, a slight exaggeration, we have something less than myriad readers) and wish him great success with his forthcoming publication.
Some months back, I announced that my daughter Stephanie Sayles had joined the staff of The Celator as Marketing Director on a part-time basis. We have an update. Stephanie's last name has changed to Schultz. The lucky guy, Bryan, (no parental prejudice) and Stephanie tied the knot on July 8th in Madison, Wisconsin. It was a lovely wedding with family, close friends, and a bourse in the back room. I have to do something about this sick humor, one of these days it's going to get me into serious trouble!
Further update! Stephanie is no longer part-time. Effective the day she and Bryan returned from their honeymoon, she was elected Secretary Treasurer for Celator, Inc. and assumed the full-time job of Office Manager for The Celator. Many of you have already spoken to her on the phone or corresponded with her. She's really taken control of our record keeping and office management (frankly, it was getting a little untidy) in addition to managing our new card-deck program.
We often hear comments from readers to the effect that they read The Celator from cover to cover, some might say from the front page to the back page. As a matter of fact, I have often seen readers, when handed a fresh issue, tum directly to the back page. There can be little argument that Dr. Saslow's rhetoric, as controversial as it can sometimes be, draws the attention of readers. Some find it amusing, others find it insightful. Some are appalled, others are enraptured. Unfortunately, some have been of fended.
We have tried each month to assure a balance between Dr. Saslow's right to express his opinion, and the rights of the "accused" in his discussions. For the most part we believe this has been achieved. On occasion, however, we have failed to recognize and excise a potentially offensive comment. For this we beg the indulgence, patience, and understanding of our reader.
With Summer vacations over, and the Fall auction and show activity still before us, it's time to sit down and drop us a line sharing your point of view.