Topeka, KS, Letter Carrier Jerry Loney will be honored by the National Association of Letter Carriers this spring for delivering a lifeline to a customer in distress.
The union highlights acts of courage and compassion by letter carriers at an annual award ceremony in Washington, DC.
Last year, Loney was delivering mail when he was approached by a man with self-inflicted wounds to his hands and wrists. The Postal Service employee called 911 and used the man’s own shirt to fashion a tourniquet to stem profuse bleeding.
Loney’s quick actions are credited with saving the customer’s life.
In addition to Loney, the union’s ceremony will recognize two other letter carriers who have not been named yet.
“I am very humbled. It’s great. It shows that we as mail carriers are out there doing more than just delivering mail and packages. We know our customers,” Loney told a local TV station.
Loney, who was also recognized by the Postmaster General’s Heroes’ Program, was profiled in Link’s “Off the Clock” column last year.
Toussaint’s ‘joy’
Ethel Kessler, an art director for USPS, did not know much about New Orleans musician and composer Allen Toussaint before she began working on the 48th stamp in the Black Heritage series.
“All it took was for me to research his discography and play some of his recordings for me to get hooked,” Kessler told Stamps Forever, the website that shares the stories behind new stamps.
“He was everywhere. All the top players have either played with him or played his music,” she said.
For the stamp, Kessler chose a 2007 image of Toussaint performing in New York City. It was a bittersweet moment for the musician, as he was in the middle of an extensive tour after Hurricane Katrina had destroyed his home and recording studio in 2005.
“I looked for a moment where he seemed fully immersed in the joy of his music,” Kessler said.
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