The eminent stamp dealer Leo Scarlet once told me "every seven years you'll have the chance to purchase a stamp collection that can change your life."

The acquisition that changed my life occurred in 1982. It was the Arthur G. Bateman holding.

Imagine, if you can, 28 cartons overflowing with all manner of Chinese philately, from 5,000 Large Dragons to hundreds of 19th-century covers to little-known People's Republic of China Soviet Posts on and off cover.

Imagine sitting through the unordered accumulation of a 30-year philatelic love affair with China, abounding with pieces acquired with affection and then set aside, many still with original invoices dating as far back as the Truman era.

Bateman never mounted a stamp or organized a collection. His careful, precise handwriting on some of the stock cards was the only personal touch that adorned this fabulous but jumbled treasure trove.

Bear in mind that the year was 1982. The modest demand for Chinese stamps at that time was nothing like the dynamic marketplace we know today, as the prices demonstrate.

Red revenue covers went begging at $80. Used Large Dragons seldom brought more than $6, and modern Taiwan Paintings stamps sold for little over their new issue cost. This lack of demand both caused and resulted from the very limited availability of relevant reference material in English, which kept a sluggish market from any prospect of expanding.

My company is often credited with anticipating the subsequent price rises in the market for Chinese stamps. Would that it be so, but that was hardly the case.

Had I realized that prices for better Chinese stamps would surge 1,600% between 1982 and 1990, I surely would not have sold the 1878 Large Dragon sheets for $6,000 in 1983. (Just six years later, the same set sold for $100,000.)

I was happy then to sell for $100 to $125 the same Red Revenue covers that I pay a minimum of $2,000 for today, on those rare occasions when I can find them. Nor would I have disposed of all the mint Taiwan sets in one great fling.

In 1982, I looked over the competition and realized that I could make my mark in Chinese philately through original research and the publication of accessible and affordable monographs, articles and literature. Since that time, no dealer has had the inventory to do what I set out to do.

If my company is to be credited for anything, let it be that we consistently promote the specialist societies that serve our customers through membership drives and financial support. It is true that we are responsible for over 600 new members in the China Stamp Society over the years. If there is one thing that we have done well, it is to have acted as the catalyst in creating many new Asia collectors.

Members of my generation were substantially shaped by the Vietnam War. Knowing that I would be drafted after college, I majored in psychology and sociology, and strove to understand world history and culture. I sincerely believe that the business success I have enjoyed owes much to those college studies of people and civilization.

My father and my maternal grandparents were immigrants to America. They did not "come from money," but they gave me something far more important: the wisdom to recognize the importance of hard work in achieving any goal, which played a pivotal role in the achievements of the last quarter century.

As fate would have it, an effectively untreatable allergy spared me from military service, so I elected to devote my energies and talents to stamps for a year. I determined that if I could not carve out an acceptable career in philately within that time, I would return to New York City to become a medical social worker. But stamps were to prove both fascinating and profitable for me.

Following my year of philatelic internship in Atlanta, and a short stint in Jacksonville, Florida, John W. McDaniel, a famous stamp dealer, brought me to Winter Park, where I went to work for him for the next three years.

In 1976, with $600 in savings, I went out on my own. I rented a desk in a tiny coin company on commission. I well recall the bitter cold on many a winter morning, let in by gaping cracks in the building's ramshackle walls.

David Cunningham, a wonderful friend, suggested that I open a stamp shop of my own. I was scared; I had little money and sparse inventory. David told me not to worry, but to return to his office on Monday. We would talk, he said.

Over the weekend, he negotiated a lease on trendy Park Avenue for me, waiving his customary legal fees. He presented me with the lease on Monday, thus assuring my future.

I never saw a bill for his counsel. And from then until the day he died, David never received a bill for his purchases.

Winter Park Stamp & Coin Shop Inc. opened in June of 1978. As the name suggests, we briefly carried coins, but coins and stamps are really incompatible, to my way of thinking. Besides, we had just 516 square feet to work with.

The smart money on the avenue had it that we would last six months or less. After all, there were three other stamp and coin shops within walking distance. Now ours is the only hobby shop of the four left in town.

There was no overnight success story, but plenty of hard work to be done; I could not afford an employee for the first year of operations. Sam Hodges, who later specialized in Latin America, helped me for a few months in 1979.

Winter Park Stamp Shop closed its doors in December 2007 after 29 years. Having a shop means a committment to six day work weeks. I've transferred WPSS's Ethiopia, Liberia & Africa + Middle East, Trucial States & Yemen stock to MRI. No doubt MRI will handle other US/Worldwide on a pricelist/internet basis.

A few months after purchasing the Bateman China in 1982, we took over a few rooms in a nearby building. Early subscribers to our price lists of that time will recall Joseph Sousa and Robert Womack, both now deceased.

In 1984, purely for accounting purposes, I separated Winter Park Stamp Shop into two units. The Asia and US/Worldwide Mail Sale/Public Auction business became Michael Rogers Inc., and the stamp shop portion of the operation with considerable US and Worldwide mail order remained Winter Park Stamp Shop.

Formerly a real estate office building, our premises at 415 South Orlando Avenue are suitably appointed. Facilities of over 2300 square feet include a large describer’s room, library, a mail room, offices and auction viewing, and two safe rooms.

In truth, we are seven men and women. I bear the name, but I am also the first to acknowledge that our company's considerable accomplishments are those of no single individual, but a highly talented team.

When the John Boksenbom collection, the best Ethiopian collection ever formed, came on the market, I bought heavily, essentially for my own collection. The Boksenbom duplicate material and subsequent purchases elsewhere have spawned MRI's frequent Ethiopia pricelists. Ethiopia is fascinating in that there's a wealth of unusual elusive varieties yet nothing is expensive.

Our Public Auctions are the company's backbone. I remember well assuring George Alevizos in 1984 that we would never do public auctions because I was too shy. Yet here we are: we hold monthly auctions. Remarkably, though every lot is reserved, we routinely sell 85% of all lots.  Auction realizations reflect the market. Readers will be surprised knowing that my company achieved the highest price for any Korean stamp sold at Public Auction anywhere (1991, C4 S/S $31,900) and PRC Regional (1995, Yang NC2 $25,850). Consignors access all our expertise to achieve the best prices, all for a modest commission. Our auctions realize the best prices for material with copious, knowledgeable descriptions and color photos, our auction catalogues rate as best in our field.

The Company's initial emphasis was on China/Asia; we have integrated worldwide material since 1999. Our Airpost auctions had expanded to full service U.S. and Worldwide stamps and postal history sales, postal /Internet, airpost or not. We are positioned to assist any collector, no matter what the interest, whether buying or selling.

With Public Auctions held every three months and Mail Sales held 8 times yearly, we have a constant appetite for more material, striving for an event every month. We are uniquely positioned to make a fair, immediate offer or accept for auction.

I continue the full-time fascination that spawned Michael Rogers Inc. which has not yet shown the slightest signs of diminishing. I know that we will continue to provide the best service around to some of the finest collectors in the hobby.