The Pen & Quill - Success and Recognition

Success and Recognition

The 1970s saw new Editors: Henry G. Mazlen - 1970-74; Donn Jennings - 1974-75 and a second stint by Herman Darvick - 1975 - 85 . Like any publication it faced growing pains often compounded by association. The growing popularity of autograph collecting was not diminished and continued to grow - enhanced by the events of the day and improved resources. “Big Name Hunters Gather for Yearly Rendezvous,” by Joyce Maynard documented the phenomena at the ninth UACC Collectors Convention for The New York Times . The article was reprinted in The Pen & Quill in the September/October, 1976 journal. As the hobby continued to grow descriptors seemed to be in order. Noted dealer and author, Charles Hamilton coined the words “philography” and "philographer" in a 1976 issue of the journal. It was a word devised by fusing two Greek roots—philo, meaning “lover of,” and graph, meaning “what it is written.” It is still in use by industry participants today.

The advent of machine-signed signatures created confusion in the hobby and became a hot topic for The Pen & Quill. Articles and Illustrations began filling pages as collectors wanted to know if their treasures were authentic. In a letter to The Pen & Quill, The International Autopen Company of Arlington, Virginia claimed in 1976 that their Autopen machine could sign as many as 3,000 signatures in an eight hour day .

Perhaps the greatest recognition one issue of The Pen & Quill ever received was for two articles in the January/February 1985 issue. The article "Devoted Mother, Devoted Son" by UACC President Herman Darvick in the January/February 1985 issue announced that "Nelle C. Reagan, mother of the 40th President of the United States, took care of her son's fan mail from the time she moved to Hollywood in 1938 to the year Reagan left Warner Brothers in 1953. During the years Ronald Reagan was married to Jane Wyman, Nelle Reagan took care of her daughter-in-law's fan mail as well. Ronald Reagan paid his mother $75 per week to be his 'secretary' and while he was in the armed forces, he had Warner Brothers upon his return." Facsimiles of authentic Ronald Reagan handwritten letters and signed photographs and handwritten letters and photographs signed "Ronald Reagan" and "Jane Wyman" by Nelle Reagan appeared in the article. Darvick revealed an easy way to distinguish among Reagan and Wyman signed photographs and letters actually handwritten by Nelle Reagan and those authentically written and signed by her son and daughter-in-law. The article was listed as the source of this information on page 837 of Reagan: A Life in Letters and on page 11 of the February 18, 1985 issue of “New York” magazine in a story headlined “Mother Signs Best.” . Nelle Reagan's answering her son and daughter-in-law's fan mail was credited to The Pen and Quill on page 727 of Pulitzer Prize winning author Edmund Morris's 1999 authorized biography Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan. It even found its way into a 1989 paperback called News of the Weird which included the story its “Celebrity Corner” chapter.

According to the UACC, a lawsuit is forthcoming against Steve Koschal, who resigned as UACC Director in 1997 after being censured by the UACC, because his 2008 self-published book Ronald Reagan and Nelle Reagan- Autograph Mystery Uncovered is "completely plagiarized" from this 1985 issue of The Pen and Quill.

The article "Nixon's Secret '64 Viet Mission," also by Herman Darvick, and also in the January/February 1985 issue of The Pen and Quill, revealed that Richard Nixon, as a private citizen, traded gold bullion with Viet Cong soldiers for five American prisoners of war during a secret mission in 1964. The story hit the wire services and, datelined February 16, 1985, was published worldwide. The second paragraph of the article: "The sale and other details about the documents was reported in the Pen and Quill, a magazine published by the Universal Autograph Collectors Club."

Joe Kraus - 1985-86 was Editor for a few issues until he was replaced by Herman Darvick - 1986-87. It was the latter who would be most responsible for bringing the publication into the next decade. Herman Darvick also served as UACC President from 1968 until he retied in 1987. By the middle of the 1980s, the publication, now six inches wide and nine inches in height, was a forty four page single-color publication with a spot color cover. Thirty two advertisers filled the spaces between feature articles, regular columns and informative departments. Although growing quickly, and featuring a $3.00 cover price, the now bimonthly publication was only available through membership. Editor Michael Saks - 1987 - 90, would finish out the decade for the publication.