Alzheimer's Stamp a Personal Project for Designer

The Washington Post features USPS Art Director Ethel Kessler in an article about the her and the new Alzheimer's stamp.

Kessler has designed many US stamps in the past but this one was particularly difficult according to reporter Steve Hendrix.

Kessler's mother is in the later stages of Alzheimer's.

Kessler is quoted by Hendrix as saying,"It's one of the most emotional projects I've ever worked on. I'm not even sure my mother remembers my name now. She hasn't said it in a long time."

David Failor, the Postal Service's executive director of stamp services, is also quoted as saying officials looked at dozens of designs before Kessler provided one that fully captured the serene menace of the disease.

New York artist Matt Mahurin drew the portrait. He used his aunt as a model and his wife's hand as the caregiver's according to the article.

Kessler also created the 1998 breast cancer awareness stamp.

"It was another personal issue for the designer, who won her battle with breast cancer in 1994," writes Hendrix.

To read the entire article, click here.