I don’t have any interest in miniature aircraft let alone an entire newsletter dedicated to aviation-themed ashtrays, but I’m always interested in the people behind any type of tiny obsession. This 23-page 1998 edition of Miniature Aircraft Quarterly, which displays photos and brief descriptions of more than 80 such ashtrays, is the handiwork of a colorful character named Geoffrey “GR” Webster. He publishes this periodical exclusively for the members of the International Miniature Aircraft Collector’s Society (I.M.A.C.S.). I found this self-penned bio about him online:
“Geoffrey R Webster, or ‘GR’ as he is known in the collecting field, has amassed one of the largest collections of toy aircraft in the world. After serving in Vietnam as a combat pilot and double DFC winner commanding the Mustang Gun Ship Platoon of the 68th Assault Helicopter Company, he later graduated from the University of Chicago with a Masters Degree in Business.
He rose from a junior sales position to Chief Executive Officer of Givaudan Fragrances, with offices in Paris, Geneva and New York. In his spare time he founded The Miniature Aircraft Quarterly, a full color magazine and club for toy airplane collectors
In 2000, he was elected to the Fragrance Foundation’s Hall of Fame and retired at 55 to pursue portrait painting, raising a family, and collecting miniature aircraft. For eight years after retiring he owned and flew a Lake Turbo Renegade amphibious flying boat around the entire United States.
GR Webster lives mainly in France.”
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