Rudy Maxa is one of America's premier consumer travel experts. He is public radio’s “Savvy Traveler,” host and co-executive producer of a 65-part public television series featuring Europe and the Pacific Rim, a contributing editor to National Geographic Traveler, and the voice on a series of podcasts, “National Geographic’s Walks of a Lifetime,” that guide hundreds of thousands of travelers visiting the world’s great destinations.
Mr. Maxa's Emmy-award-winning public television series, "Smart Travels: Europe with Rudy Maxa” and “Smart Travels: Pacific Rim with Rudy Maxa,” is one of the most widely seen travel shows in North America. It was public television's first High Definition series when it debuted five seasons ago. Episodes may also be seen (re-formatted for commercial broadcast) on the Fine Living channel. Two six-DVD collections of the first four seasons, re-titled “Europe To the Max” and “Hidden Treasures: Europe to the Max,” are available from retail stores.
A veteran Washington investigative reporter, Mr. Maxa created the “Savvy Traveler” segment 15 years ago on public radio's daily business show "Marketplace." Several years later, he began hosting a one-hour, weekend show with the same name on 195 public radio stations. He remains the consumer travel commentator on “Marketplace,” broadcast coast to coast on 395 stations.
As a writer for National Geographic Traveler, Mr. Maxa’s articles have earned him a Lowell Thomas Award for Best Magazine Article on Foreign Travel from the Society of American Travel Writers. He has contributed travel articles to GQ, Worth, Forbes, Modern Maturity, the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times as well as USAToday.com, MSNBC.com and ABC.com. He’s a frequent guest on television networks and shows, including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and “The View.” And he speaks frequently to both public as well as industry groups.
After 13 years as a Washington Post investigative reporter and personalities columnist, Mr. Maxa then worked for nine years as a senior writer and columnist for the monthly city magazine, Washingtonian, followed by a post as Washington bureau chief of SPY magazine for two years.
Political scandal reportage by Mr. Maxa was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize by the Post, and he has written two non-fiction books. He wrote for the ABC-TV dramatic series "Capitol News" and hosted for several years a Saturday-morning talk show on WRC-AM, the NBC owned-and-operated radio station in Washington, DC.
Episodes of Mr. Maxa’s television series have garnered dozens of awards, including two regional Emmy awards for an informational series. Mr. Maxa was named "best regular columnist" by the Florida Magazine Association for his writings in Ocean Drive. And as a Post reporter, he won the John Hancock Award for Excellence in Business and Financial Journalism for a series of stories unmasking an international Ponzi scheme.
Mr. Maxa, 57, is a graduate of Ohio University. He lives in St. Paul, MN, and is the father of a son and daughter.
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