There is as joke somewhere about people who cannot take yes for an answer. I had a phone call on Friday afternnon from someone who was clearly frustrated with us and I clearly was not laughing by the end of the conversation.

Fundamentally, it boiled down to a check that seems to either have been delayed in the mail or lost. I can understand how this would prey on the mind of the affected person, but in this case it seems to have shut out every other aspect of the problem.

He wanted a subscription extended to World Coin News, but it had not been because of the check problem. He wanted to be able to talk to our accounting department in Cincinnati to see if it had been deposited yet. That was one thing I could not give him. Our accounting department does not talk directly with the public.

He had been asked to send another check by the person handling subscription calls. I told him he could do that and we would refund the money from the other check if it showed up. He said his impression from the other phone conversation was it would somehow be docked by a certain amount in the process. I said if it was a full refund he wanted I could make sure he got it.

He dropped that topic and went back to asking to talk to accounting.

He talked about free issues he had been promised because of some late delivery experiences. I said if it was free issues he wanted, I could see to it that he received some. He dropped that topic and began to complain about a subscription renewal offer to Numismatic News. I told him I did not handle subscription renewal offers, but I thought they were pretty much the same for all magazines.

He had mentioned that he hoped to subscribe at some point to Bank Note Reporter. I suggested he send the second check and if the first one showed up, the money could be applied to Bank Note Reporter.

He changed the subject again and went back to asking about talking to accounting. I said I couldn’t do that.

There was much more to the call, but you get the idea. I understand the caller’s frustration. A lost check is a pain. However, there usually is more than one way to solve a problem and I feel that I failed in making that point and bringing the conversation to a successful conclusion.

There was sad news in my e-mail when I got back to the office after a long Labor Day weekend. Radford Stearns died on Sunday.

He was a member of the board of governors of the American Numismatic Association elected in 2007 to clean house.

Unfortunately, he had two struggles. The first was the political one. The second was his health. He was suffering from leukemia and he struggled hard against it.

Stearns was a collector’s collector. He not only collected things like Georgia Colonial paper money, but he also shared what he knew by giving talks and building award-winning exhibits.

He served as chairman of the 1987 ANA convention in Atlanta.

His understanding of the hobby was built from the ground up. He had a sense of humor that I enjoyed.

I was especially grateful for his willingness last year to be photographed by a room sign at the Milwaukee ANA convention. After election results showed that three members of the new board would be from Iola, Wis., I thought it was funny that the board was meeting in Room 101A, which looked suspiciously like Iola. He got the joke immediately when I showed it to him and I had a wonderful photograph for Numismatic News.

I am sure he would be the first to say that his work at ANA was not yet finished, but when you consider his entire hobby career, he has done more than most and he has earned his eternal rest.