William Faulkner, born in 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi, was one of the most celebrated writers in American literature, known for his richly layered novels set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County. But before he won the Nobel Prize in Literature, Faulkner spent a brief stint in public service as a postmaster in University, Mississippi, from 1921 to 1924.

Despite the steady work, Faulkner found the post office stifling and famously said, “I will be damned if I’ll deliver your mail the way you want it!” His tenure was marked by frustration, and he was eventually asked to resign after allegedly reading magazines before delivering them and gambling on the job. But it was during this time that he continued developing his craft, paving the way for masterpieces like The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying.

In 1987, Faulkner was honored with a U.S. postage stamp—Scott #2350—as part of the Literary Arts series, cementing his place not just in American letters, but in philatelic history as well.

Faulkner’s time behind the counter may have been short, but it adds an ironic twist to the legacy of a man who spent his life defying convention, both in literature and in life.