Ray Johnson "Death Stamp"

Rumors of Ray Johnson's death spread instantly throughout the mail art network when a triangular death stamp appeared in 1989. Johnson was legendary for pulling pranks like killing his New York Correspondence School in a "New York Times" obituary (April 5, 1973) and then instantly rebirthing it as "Buddha University." The legendary "Death Stamp" was created as a ruse by Johnson, living then as a "living dead legend." When Johnson died on January 13, 1995, many friends, including me, were skeptical of the news thinking it was just another ploy, prompting the immediate response, "This time he's REALLY DEAD." Within days after Ray Johnson's death, I received a spooky letter with Johnson's return address and his handwritten inscription, "I Am Dead." Later, the network learned that California mail artist Johnny Tostada mailed the fake letters in the true Johnsonian spirit of playful parody.