PREV ARTICLE
NEXT ARTICLE
FULL ISSUE
PREV FULL ISSUE
V11 2008 INDEX
E-SYLUM ARCHIVE
The E-Sylum: Volume 11, Number 5, February 3, 2008, Article 13 MORE ON DIANE WOLF Ed Reiter writes: "I was taken aback by Dick Johnson’s comments on Diane Wolf in the Jan. 27 edition of the E-Sylum. I, too, have personal memories of Diane and, like just about everyone who knew her, was startled to learn of her death at the far too young age of 53. "After reading Dick’s remarks, I can only conclude that he never really got to know Diane as well as some of us did. She was wealthy, to be sure, and the trappings of her wealth were evident, as Dick notes, in her designer clothes, perfect makeup and coiffure, and ample jewelry. I won’t even dispute that she may have “appeared overdressed” to those more focused on her clothes than on her cause. "I take exception, however, to the suggestion that coinage redesign was some kind of “harmless cause” that Diane latched onto in an effort to relieve the boredom of being “a rich girl with lots of free time.” I can vouch from many conversations with her that she took this cause very seriously and worked tirelessly in an effort to bring about meaningful change in Americans’ pocket change. "Diane contacted me shortly after being appointed in 1985 to the federal Commission of Fine Arts. I was then writing the Numismatics column in the Sunday New York Times and had devoted several of my weekly articles to the bland artwork on regular U.S. coins and the dreadful designs on some modern commemoratives. She invited me to lunch at a private club in midtown Manhattan, where we spent several hours discussing U.S. coinage, past, present and potential. "Coinage is not the only subject – or even the primary subject – that falls under the purview of the Fine Arts Commission. It deals far more extensively with architecture in Washington, D.C. But coinage was the subject that intrigued Diane Wolf the most, and she chose to make coin redesign her special cause, much as Teddy Roosevelt made it his “pet crime” a century ago. "Over the next half-decade, Diane worked ceaselessly – and passionately – to win support for this cause, making personal visits to anyone in Congress and any congressional staffers who would listen. She participated in coin conventions, contacted journalists, buttonholed influential friends and acquaintances – and even came calling on Dick Johnson – to get out the word that Americans’ coinage art needed to be updated and upgraded. "Dick says that as a lobbyist, Diane was “more show and less substance.” What a mischaracterization! Yes, her glitzy appearance may have seemed out of place in his workroom office. But when it came to fighting for what she believed in, she rolled up her sleeves with the best of them. "The U.S. Senate passed legislation several times calling for coinage redesign, but action was blocked in the House by Illinois Congressman Frank Annunzio, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs and Coinage. As Diane confided to me, Annunzio’s opposition “wasn’t really about design change. I think the whole thing was about the new guard coming in and rocking the boat against the old guard. Annunzio hadn’t started it. It was somebody else who had started it – and it was a female and it was a young female.” "As I wrote in an article in the June 2000 issue of COINage, Diane felt vindicated when the 50 States Quarter Program was approved and became enormously popular. She believed – correctly, I think – that her years of effort promoting redesign had helped pave the way for this breakthrough (though she shared my opinion that the quarters’ designs “could be better”). "“In the end,” she said, “the bad guys lost and the good guys won. And that’s really how I look at this whole thing. In retrospect, I was blessed with a controversy. The more controversial coin redesign became, and the more the subject made the national papers, the better off it was for getting new designs – because people actually looked at the old designs and realized how much we needed new ones.” "Diane said she was “proud of the job” she did. "“I did such a good job that down the road a piece, people still remember me even now. And I’m really delighted to see the change in attitude toward coinage redesign – in Congress and especially at the Mint. The government is recognizing the revenue enhancement that we said it would receive through redesign. The government is recognizing that people are clamoring for a change. Kids are getting involved in coin designs again. Everything we predicted is coming true.” "“We had a good thing; we had the right idea,” she remarked. “We were just a little ahead of our time.” " [Gar Travis forwarded this New York Post item on the late Diane Wolf. -Editor] The New York philanthropic set was in shock yesterday with news that socialite Diane Wolf - a large donor to cultural institutions around the country - died following a routine medical procedure. Wolf, 53, died early Thursday at New York Hospital following "an unexpected medical reaction to a minor procedure," said her art-dealer brother, Daniel Wolf. The Fifth Avenue society woman gave generously to several museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney and The Frick. In 1985, President Reagan appointed her to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. Born in Cheyenne, Wyo., in 1954, Wolf was raised in Denver. She got her bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a master's degree from Columbia and a law degree from Georgetown. With her passion for arts and politics, she split time between New York and Washington, but always considered the Big Apple her home. To read the complete article, see: Full Story DIANE WOLF REMEMBERED esylum_v11n04a16.html Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum | |
PREV ARTICLE
NEXT ARTICLE
FULL ISSUE
PREV FULL ISSUE
V11 2008 INDEX
E-SYLUM ARCHIVE
Copyright © 1998 - 2024
The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
All Rights Reserved.
NBS Home Page
Contact the NBS webmaster