Mother Teresa, Katharine Hepburn on new US stamps

Washington: Nobel Prize winner Mother Teresa and Oscar-winning actress Katharine Hepburn will be honoured on US postage stamps in 2010.Joining them will be singing cowboy Gene Autry, artist Winslow Homer and Adm. Arleigh Burke.

Other new stamps will honour the Negro baseball leagues and the Hawaiian rain forest, the Postal Service announced today. The US post office releases a series of commemorative stamps every year, honouring people, places and institutions. These stamps remain on sale for a limited period and are widely collected. The 2010 new stamp programme includes: Mother Teresa, the Catholic nun who devoted her life to the sick and poor of India, was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. A stamp in her honour will go on sale on her birthday, August 26. Katharine Hepburn won four Oscars during her long screen career, which included 40 movies opposite such stars as Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart and Spencer Tracy. Her independent personality set her apart from others in Hollywood. Singing cowboy and, later, baseball executive Gene Autry will be part of a four-stamp set honouring cowboys of the silver screen. Joining him are William S Hart, Tom Mix and Roy Rogers. In June, stamps will be released honouring Negro Leagues baseball, which operated from 1920 to about 1960, drawing some of the most remarkable athletes ever to play the sport. Artist Winslow Homer will be the ninth subject of the American Treasures series. The stamp, being released on August 12, features his painting `Boys in a Pasture.` The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be marked with a stamp featuring an illustration of a snowboarder. On January 14, the Year of the Tiger will be marked with a stamp in the lunar New Year series. The New Year begins in February. El Pueblo Historic Monument in Old Chinatown in Los Angeles will be featured. The Mackinac Bridge in Michigan will be shown on the new Priority Mail stamp. The new Express Mail stamp will feature the Bixby Creek Bridge in California. Abstract Expressionist art will be featured on a stamp containing elements from Barnett Newman`s 1952 `Achilles.` A white woven basket brimming with purple pansies will appear on the 2010 Love stamp. A stamp will commemorate celebrated singer Kate Smith, whose signature song, `God Bless America,` was composed for her by Irving Berlin. Pioneering filmmaker Oscar Micheaux appears on the 33rd stamp in the Black Heritage series. The Literary Arts series will recall Julia de Burgos, one of Puerto Rico`s most celebrated poets. The Nature of America stamp set will feature the Hawaiian Rain Forest. Bureau Report