A P-22 postage stamp? Schiff kicks off effort to honor L.A.’s celebrity puma

Before his death in December, P-22 became the face of an international conservation campaign to save Southern California’s threatened pumas. In a letter sent Friday to the federal committee that recommends new U.S. stamps, Schiff wrote that P-22 was a “magnificent and wild creature, who reminded us all that we are part of a natural world so much greater than ourselves.” “When I think about what I would like to see on a postage stamp to represent the wild and beautiful aspect of Los Angeles, I think of P-22,” Schiff said in an interview. All communications to the stamp committee must be mailed — yes, with a stamp — to Washington, D.C. “He’s earned a stamp,” said Beth Pratt, a regional executive director in California for the National Wildlife Federation, who often called herself P-22’s agent. If the P-22 proposal doesn’t make the cut, Schiff says, “we will continue to submit this request until we succeed.” The letter to the stamp advisory committee was also signed by Southern California Reps. Julia Brownley and Ted Lieu. “For all we make of him, this cat didn’t know any of this — he didn’t know he was famous,” said National Geographic photographer Steve Winter, who took the iconic Hollywood sign photo of P-22, in a recent interview.