John Lennon first-day event planned for Central Park

By Jay Bigalke

A time and location has been revealed for the Sept. 7 first-day ceremony for the United States John Lennon forever stamps.

The four similar nondenominated (50¢) forever stamps will be dedicated at an 11 a.m. ceremony at Namburg Bandshell in Central Park near East 72nd St. and Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan will serve as the dedicating official for the ceremony. No other participants were revealed in the July 11 press release from the Postal Service.

“Beloved around the world, Lennon was successful both as a founding member of the Beatles and as a solo artist. Lennon’s music continues to speak for truth, peace, and tolerance,” the Postal Service said in the press release.

The stamps will be issued in a pane of 16, with the stamp pane design resembling the sleeve of a 45rpm record. The four stamps in the pane feature the same photograph of Lennon taken by Bob Gruen in August 1974, but the stamps in each horizontal row will be treated in different gradient colors, creating four different major varieties.

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The colors on the stamps in the first row change from yellow orange to red, the second row changes from red to light purple, the third is light purple to dark purple, and the fourth is dark purple to blue.

The stamps were designed by Neal Ashby, and Antonio Alcala was the art director.