Stephen Birnbaum (c. 1937 – December 20, 1991) was an American writer, journalist and commentator best known for

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

commentary and guide books. In addition to print media, he worked in television and radio, including appearances on three major U.S. commercial broadcast networks.

Career

Birnbaum worked as a managing

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

for Fodor's travel guides, and later created his own series of guide books, the Birnbaum Travel Guides, which up to the time of his death had encompassed 36 books. Books in the series were published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

or the

Houghton Mifflin Company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Boston Financ ...

. For more than 14 years, he provided travel commentary on the CBS Radio Network, working at

flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyalt ...

WCBS (AM), in New York. Before that, he had been a guest on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'', the '' CBS Morning News'' and NBC's '' Today'' show, and had been travel editor for the syndicated '' Independent Network News'' program. He wrote articles for numerous magazines, including '' Good Housekeeping'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' and ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

''. At the time of his death, he was ''Good Housekeepings travel editor, and the author of a twice-weekly travel column that was syndicated by Tribune Media Services and published in several U.S. newspapers. In 1976, he became a co-owner of the then three-year-old ''Diversion'' magazine (ISSN 0363-4825), a now-defunct, monthly travel and leisure magazine for physicians. The magazine was sold to

Hearst Corporation Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, televis ...

in 1984, but Birnbaum remained its editorial director until his death. He edited ''The Best of Walt Disney World'', that

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

's official guide book, Wade, Betsy (December 27, 1987). "Experienced mother meticulously plots 2nd trip to Disney World". ''

The Sunday Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'' (Portland, Oregon), p. S5. New York Times News Service. as well as the official guide for

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

. In the 1980s, he also sold audio-tape walking tours, but found sales of tapes to be relatively slow compared with his books.

Personal life

Stephen Birnbaum died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

in 1991, at the age of 54, in New York City. At the time of his death he had been living in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. He had been married for 17 years to his second wife Alexandra Mayes Birnbaum, who shared his interest in travel and had been a business partner and longtime co-editor of the Birnbaum Travel Guides. After his death, she was hired to fill his role as travel commentator at radio station WCBS-AM. She also continued editing travel guide books under the "Birnbaum's" name,Books by (or edited by) Alexandra Mayes Birnbaum
at Open Library. Retrieved February 18, 2012. with HarperCollins, as well as updated editions of the Disney theme park guide books.

References

External links

List of books by Stephen Birnbaum
at Open Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Birnbaum, Stephen 1937 births 1991 deaths American travel writers Travel broadcasters Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Deaths from leukemia in New York (state) 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Writers from Manhattan