Arthur Frommer was a travel writer best known for creating the Frommer’s brand of affordable-travel guidebooks.
- Died: November 18, 2024 (Who else died on November 18?)
- Details of death: Died in New York City from complications of pneumonia at the age of 95.
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Arthur Frommer’s legacy
When Frommer graduated with honors from Yale Law School in 1953, serving as an editor with the Yale Law Journal, he may have had a different career path in mind. However, he was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War and sent to serve in Germany, where in 1955 he wrote “The GI’s Guide to Traveling in Europe” in his spare time. The self-published book quickly sold out. In 1957, he followed that up with “Europe on 5 Dollars a Day.” It became a huge success and set the stage for his series of budget travel guides, which have since sold over 75 million copies worldwide.
Frommer practiced law for several years before leaving the field to focus full time on his growing travel business. He established the Frommer’s line of travel guides and co-hosted “The Travel Show with Arthur and Pauline Frommer.” He also created one of the internet’s first travel websites, Frommers.com, alongside IDG publishing.
Born to Jewish immigrants, Frommer believed meeting people of different cultures in their native nations was the path to combating bigotry, once writing of travel that “it exposes you to the finest in every land, and makes you distinctly uneasy—as it now does to me—when you later return home and hear people proclaiming their own nation to be better than all others.”
His work in travel was not limited to print. Frommer started a tour company, built hotels in Amsterdam, Aruba, Copenhagen and Curacao, created magazines (Budget Travel and Arthur Frommer’s Smart Shopping), and penned a syndicated column for over 20 years, among his many notable endeavors.
Notable quote
“I love the discoveries you make overseas of elements that have not yet reached the U.S.” — interview with Hadassah Magazine, 2016
Tributes to Arthur Frommer
Full obituary: The New York Times
