The legendary U.S. travel journalist and entrepreneur Arthur Frommer passed away November 18 at the age of 95. Born in Virginia and with an early boyhood in a small town in Missouri, Arthur was a lawyer who became a pioneering and great travel journalist, and who will be remembered as having helped open the joys of travel to the masses. While serving in the U.S. Army in Europe in the 1950s, he got the travel bug, came out with a travel guide for servicemen, and followed up in 1957 with Europe of 5 Dollars a Day, which would transform the world of travel from one reserved mostly for the wealthy into one in which “regular people” – especially budget travelers – could freely participate, enriching millions of lives in the process.
Replies
I knew and loved Arthur for almost as many years as David, and heartily concur in his assessments. Mr. Frommer was a kind one of a kind (though certainly he had his irascible moments!), and he truly revolutionized how Americans traveled, setting in motion trends that have spread to other parts of the world as well. RIP.