The writer was Eugene Fodor, hardly a travel industry mainstay when his book, “On the Continent,” launched his namesake brand 75 years ago.
In 1942, he added spy to his resume — specializing in psychological warfare for the Americans and later providing cover for CIA operatives masquerading as travel writers for his guides.
Fodor’s Travel is now an imprint of Random House, which is feting the founder this month as “The Spy Who Loved Travel,” reissuing the original 1936 guide as an e-book on Fodors.com.
Fodor employed top writers (the real kind) to spin each of the 26 countries covered in the book, first published in Britain. Fodor fact-checked every word and wrote chapters on Bulgaria and Monte Carlo himself. Fodor was in the United States promoting his guidebook when he learned of the Munich pact. After the war, Fodor lived in Prague for a year. In 1974, The New York Times revealed his spy secret — Fodor’s franchise long established with several dozen guides in what had become a competitive business after a ’50s boom in overseas travel by Americans. Fodor died in 1991 of a brain tumor at age 85. Random House bought the company in 1986 and Fodor returned in a smaller role.
“This was a man who had deep curiosity and loved travel,” said Tim Jarrell, publisher of Fodor’s Travel. Before there was a Frommer’s or a Lonely Planet, Fodor dedicated himself to annual updates. “That was a huge factor,” said Meg Rushton, a Fodor’s Travel publicist who spent six months researching Fodor’s life for the reissue. Fodor’s regular updates allowed for more detailed logistical information to be included for the first time.
A constant traveler himself, Fodor was also dedicated to encouraging foreigners to interact with the people of the countries they visit. Fodor, he said, “didn’t lead the movement but he joined the movement to change travel guides from simply a dry recitation of sightseeing attractions into books that dealt with the entirety of the travel experience.”
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