Stewarding the George Linn legacy

Feb 4, 2026, 9 AM

Philatelic Foreword by Jay Bigalke

On one of my final days working in the Sidney, Ohio, office, I received an unexpected and deeply meaningful visit. By pure chance, John Dormer, the great-grandson of George W. Linn, stopped in to deliver an original Linn’s Stamp News sign that had remained in his family for decades.

George W. Linn’s role in shaping modern American philatelic journalism is part of the shared editorial heritage that connects Linn’s Stamp News and Scott Stamp Monthly.

The timing alone made the moment memorable, but the visit carried far more weight than that. As we talked, I shared examples from my own George Linn collection, including covers and other historical material, and we reflected together on the legacy behind the name that still appears on Linn’s Stamp News today.

In a follow-up email, he explained the sign’s remarkable journey. It had been a favorite possession of his maternal grandmother, Hazel Linn Scherer, George Linn’s daughter. For many years, the sign sat on built-in bookshelves beside her fireplace at her home on Talawanda Trail in Washington Township, Ohio. When she died in 1989 at age 82, he took possession of it. For the past decade, it has been displayed in his Florida home alongside furniture he believes also once belonged to George Linn.

He also shared family photographs, including one taken in the early 1960s showing George Linn with his daughter Hazel, his granddaughter Lynn Morgan Dormer, and his great-grandchildren Pamela and John Dormer. Another image showed a Feb. 27, 1989, issue of Linn’s Stamp News that had been printed, delivered, and carefully saved. Hazel maintained her subscription until her death.

For me, the visit was profoundly affirming. As both Scott Stamp Monthly and Linn’s Stamp News continue to serve collectors, moments like this underscore that these publications are more than titles or mastheads. They represent a living legacy, one passed carefully from one steward to the next. Today, the sign sits safely and securely at the new Scott Stamp LLC offices in Troy, Ohio.

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