I have been incredibly lax with my Lucky 13 interviews for a few weeks now, but I am intending to get back to a weekly publishing schedule on these now. For those that really enjoy them — I am sorry for my ‘falling off the wagon,’ but to get your interest peaked back up, I managed to score a big fish from the travel realm to restart this interview series.
Pauline Frommer comes from the first family of travel guides. Pauline Frommer guides are the gold standard in guide books around today. Between her guidebooks and the other hundreds from Frommers, I doubt there is a traveler out there today that hasn’t partaken of the fount of travel knowledge this family has been dispensing for decades.
Pauline not only has written a number of award winning guide books, she’s got a very popular travel podcast, is active on the Frommer’s website, co-hosts (with her father Arthur) a nationally syndicated radio show on travel, heard on 130 stations now, and somehow has the time to still provide some great Twitter commentary and tips (follow her here). So sit back and enjoy her answers to the Lucky 13:
anything by Fellini works for me
1 – best movie that no one has heard of?
I’m not enough of a movie buff to name a film no-one has ever heard of, but not enough people have seen La Strada.
2 – word or phrase that makes you cringe when you see it or hear it?
“You get what you pay for” (its the saying of suckers who consistently over pay).
3 – tell us something interesting about someone in your family, going further back in your ancestry than your parents.
I have a distant cousin, he died before I was born, who apparently was in the mafia in Chicago.
4 – worst pitch you can remember from someone (either wanting to write for you or pitching their location on you…without naming names, of course).
Just today I got a PR pitch with a suggested tweet at the top of it. Um, I don’t think so…
5 – what is your ideal dinner party? You and 4 others.
Andy Borowitz, the Dalai Lama, Gail Collins, and Rachel Maddow
don't mess with Pauline
6 – who plays you in the movie about your life?
Angelina Jolie, of course. Who wouldn’t want to look like Angelina?
7 – what is your favorite television show?
The Daily Show
8 – Food you want everyone to try at least once.
Sea urchin
9 – if you could never travel outside one of the 5 occupied continents, which one would you spend the rest of your life traveling around and why?
Europe. The variety of cultures, the fine dining, a respect for the life of the mind, the beauty of so many of the cities–I’d really, really miss being able to go elsewhere, but I think Europe would be the best fit for me. And since I’d be growing old on this continent and likely having physical ailments as I aged, I’d want to have decent, affordable and subsidized health care and for that you need to go to Europe.
10 – person whose tweets you look forward to the most in your stream?
Don George
but can Pauline explain this...??
11 – Give us a good and embarrassing guilty pleasure of yours.
I know far too much about George Clooney
12. Who is your favorite writer, past or present?
Virginia Woolf
13. You are able to ask one yes/no question to anyone in history and get a 100% honest reply — what is your question and to whom?
Yes or no question? Would much rather get complete explanations. But if it must be yes or no, I guess I’d have to ask Catherine the Great about the horse. I wouldn’t want a longer explanation than “yes” or “no” for that one.
Great interview and surprising answers from Pauline Frommer!
I’ll second the surprising answers! I did not expect these type of answers and it’s given me new insight into Pauline. Great series, too.
We’re (usually vegetarian) but if Pauline says sea urchin is a must try… we’re on it.
Great interview!
Glad to be “surprising”! As for sea urchin: the Italians use it on wonderful sauces for pasta. There’s also a wonderful Japanese preparation in which its roasted and served with sea salt and slivered dry seaweed.
What a treat! I love Frommer’s guides – it’s so great to read Pauline’s answers!
Love this series but this was one of the best! So great to get to know Pauline better 🙂 BTW I’ve never heard of that movie.
I’m starting to believe “you get what you pay for” more and more, and I’ve been a budget spender my whole life. On those occasions when I do splurge for something nicer, it’s usually worth it. (At least in the case of food and drink!)
Guess you’ve been lucky Scott. But if you’re a budget guy, you probably think twice when you splurge rather than assume you have to splurge to have a nice time when you travel. So often people overpay for hotels, tours, transportation etc on the assumption that it will get them a better product. Often it just ain’t the case