Arthur Frommer (born July 17, 1929) is a travel writer. He founded the Frommer's brand of travel guides. Frommer was born in

Jefferson City, Missouri Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the principa ...

, and moved to

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

when he was 14. He graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

in 1950 with a political science degree, and graduated with honors from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & World ...

, where he was an editor of the ''

Yale Law Journal The ''Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ), known also as the ''Yale Law Review'', is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students ...

'', in 1953. Frommer was drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

during the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

. Rather than being sent to Korea, he was sent to Europe because of his linguistic abilities. In 1955, while serving in Germany, Frommer wrote and self-published a guidebook called ''The GI's Guide to Traveling In Europe''. It sold out its first print run. In 1957, Frommer followed up with a civilian version called ''Europe on 5 Dollars a Day'', which covered major European urban destinations. It also sold out its first run of 5,000 copies. In 1962, Frommer founded tour operator $5-a-Day Tours, Inc. He left the practice of law in 1962 to pursue his travel business, Arthur Frommer International, Inc., of which he was chairman and president until 1981. Frommer's writing was not restricted to travel. His ''The Bible and the Public Schools'' (1963) was a defense of that year's Supreme Court decision banning compulsory Bible reading in public schools. His ''Goldwater From A to Z'' (1964) was an argument against the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

presidential candidate

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for president ...

in the

1964 United States presidential election The 1964 United States presidential election was the 45th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1964. Incumbent Democratic United States President Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater, the Republican nomi ...

. In 1969, Frommer built a hotel in Amsterdam, now known as the Hotel Mercure Amsterdam Arthur Frommer, and part of the

Accor group Accor S.A. is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties. It is the largest hospitality company in Europe, and the sixth largest hospitality company worldwide. Accor op ...

. Frommer sold the travel guide book business to

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...

in 1977, it changed hands a few times, and Frommer eventually reacquired the rights. In the 1980s, he published ''Frommer's New World of Travel'', which advocated alternative vacation styles, and founded Budget Travel magazine, which he sold to

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

. He briefly ventured into general bargain shopping in 2005–2006 with the quarterly magazine ''Arthur Frommer's Smart Shopping''. He writes a travel column syndicated through

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editori ...

. He has a weekly syndicated radio show, ''The Travel Show with Arthur and Pauline Frommer'', also hosted with his daughter Pauline (from his first marriage), co-president of Frommer Media LLC.USA Today: "Arthur Frommer: 'We believe in guidebooks'" by Candyce H. Stapen
October 29, 2013

Notes

External links

Frommer's travel advice web site

Budget travel advice website

The Frommer's Travel Show (podcast)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frommer, Arthur 1929 births Living people People from Jefferson City, Missouri American travel writers American male non-fiction writers Travel broadcasters New York University alumni Yale Law School alumni American company founders Jewish American military personnel Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison people 21st-century American Jews