A portrait of Toronto philatelist Charles Verge, Canada’s sole living Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP) signatory, will soon hang on the walls of the Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Research Foundation.
The Greene Foundation’s longest-serving director before his retirement, Verge stepped back from several key roles, including vice-chair, vice-president, historian and archivist, this March (“Verge retires from VGG, Royal,” CSN Vol. 46 #25, March 29, 2022). A month earlier, he became just the eighth Canadian to sign the RDP, widely considered the hobby’s top honour.
“It’s probably the highest award any philatelist or stamp collector can get in the world, so you’re part of an exclusive club of people who have been recognized for what they’ve been able to do for the hobby over the last 100 years now,” Verge told CSN in March 2020 after he was first invited to sign the roll (“Canada’s Charles Verge to receive ‘highest and most prestigious honour,’” Vol. 44 #25).
The invite-only Philatelic Specialists Society of Canada (PSSC), which Verge joined in 1990, has ordered a portrait by Toronto-based artist Monica Bodirsky to line the “wall of fame” at the Greene Foundation, where the society hosts its monthly in-person meetings.
PSSC officials will unveil Verge’s portrait at the next in-person meeting on Jan. 4.
It will join other portraits of past Canadian RDP signatories, including Frederick Jarrett (1935), James Calder (1947), Gerald Wellburn (1951), Vinnie Greene (1963), Harry Sutherland (1991), Ken Rowe (1995) and Michael Madesker (2000).