Obituary: Travel Weekly's Alan Fredericks, 1934-2005

OLD BRIDGE, N.J. -- Alan Fredericks, CTC, Travel Weeklys editor-at-large and former long-time editor in chief, an editor who has shaped Travel Weekly for nearly 40 years, died at his home here, after a long battle with cancer. He was 70.

Fredericks served as editor in chief of Travel Weekly for 25 years, earning a reputation as one of the industrys most influential travel journalists and publishing executives, and garnering a number of honors and awards.

Born in New York City on Sept. 11, 1934, Fredericks attended the Bronx High School of Science and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University.

He began his career as a radio broadcaster in 1954 and worked as an announcer, newscaster and disc jockey in Pennsylvania, Michigan and New York before moving to the print media in 1966, when he took a job with the Associated Press.

Later in 1966, he was hired by Travel Weeklys founder Irwin Robinson as an associate editor and was promoted to managing editor the following year. In that role, he helped supervise the transition of the paper from a weekly to a twice-weekly publication in 1969. He became editor in 1972, a position he retained until 1997.

At the time of his death, he was editor-at-large for Travel Weekly and vice president and editorial director of its parent company, Northstar Travel Media, LLC.

Travel Weeklys editor in chief Arnie Weissmann called Fredericks death a great loss, adding that Alans influence on the essence of what Travel Weekly is as a publication has already lasted long beyond his day-to-day involvement with the paper. His template for business journalism was simple: Maintain integrity, a sense of fairness, a crisp style of writing and a deep understanding of the roles that people play in making businesses work. We intend to keep it alive.

George Hundley, CEO of Northstar, said, Alan was a renaissance man. He knew about the world because of his extensive travel and natural curiosity, but he also knew about baseball, movies, literature and the fine arts. He was a great writer and editor and an excellent business person. More than anyone else he built Travel Weekly. He was the personification of the publication. I personally learned a great deal from Alan and for that I will be forever grateful.

His broadcasting background gave him an ease before microphones and cameras that provided an added dimension to his career as journalist and commentator. 

He appeared regularly in the 1990s on closed circuit TV programs at major industry conventions and trade shows and was often called upon by major news organizations for comment when major world events affected the travel industry.

Over the years he appeared on numerous radio talk shows across the country and on a number of major national news programs, including ABCs Good Morning America, the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, and the CBS Morning News.

He also kept up an association with the broadcasting industry, filling in as a substitute DJ from time to time on WCBS-FM in New York.

Among his many honors and awards was his appointment in 1994 as a delegate to the White House Conference on Travel and Tourism where he served on a travel industry committee that developed recommendations for a new U.S. tourist office.

In 1995, Fredericks was the first representative of the trade press to receive the American Society of Travel Agents Melva Pederson Award, now known as The Travel Journalist of the Year Award, for contributions to travel journalism.

He was the 1999 recipient of the American Business Medias G.D. Crain Award, annually bestowed upon an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the development of editorial excellence in the business press.

In 2001, he received the Winthrop W. Grice lifetime achievement award for communications from the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International.

In 2005 he was inducted into the Travel Industry Associations Hall of Leaders, in recognition of sustained and distinguished contributions that have had a positive impact on the overall travel and tourism industry.

He is survived by his wife, Cathy; their daughter, Caitlin; two sons by a previous marriage, Lon and Todd; and a brother, Jerry.   

For details on the funeral services, see box at right.