Al Borcover, former Tribune travel editor who made stops in 60 countries, dies at 92

Alfred Borcover was the Tribune’s travel editor in the 1980s and ’90s, a time when travel sections were a staple of Sunday papers and writers covered the globe in search of interesting stories.

“Back in the day, Al took readers to places near and far with an easygoing style that made them feel like they were his fellow travelers,” said Carolyn McGuire, a retired Tribune associate travel editor. “Between assignments he was always available to give advice to anyone who asked how to beat jet lag or the best hotel to stay – you name it.

Borcover, 92, died of natural causes in January. 24 at the Warren Barr Lieberman long-term care facility in Skokie, said his wife of 34 years, Linda. A longtime resident of Evanston, Borcover had battled a number of health problems and was in hospice care.

Born Alfred Seymour Borcover in Bellaire, Ohio, Borcover was the son of a Russian-born father and a mother who had immigrated to the United States from Austria. He received a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University in 1953 and then served two years in the United States Air Force, where he was a first lieutenant and served in Morocco and at a radar station in Maine, his family said.

In 1957, he received a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Two years later he joined the Tribune, briefly as a reporter before becoming a copy editor.

Borcover joined the Tribune’s Travel section in 1963 and for the next 10 years was an assistant travel editor, while writing feature articles on various destinations. His first Travels article, published in July 1963, took readers to Vilas County in north-central Wisconsin, which he described as a “scenic wonderland of 1,300 lakes and thousands of acres of imposing forests”.

Borcover’s stories included a focus on affordable rail travel while also visiting far-flung places like Tunisia and Israel. During this time, he provided the content for “Arthur Frommer’s Dollar-Wise Guide to Chicago,” which was published in 1967. Tribune book critic Clarence Petersen called it “authoritative, well-written, fascinating and up-to-date “book” to remind the natives of some of the attractions of the house”.

A series he developed in 1976 on Bicentennial travel destinations, including Yellowstone National Park, the Arizona desert, Glacier Bay in Alaska and the Grand Canyon, was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by the Administration Bicentennial of the American Revolution.

Borcover was named the Tribune’s Travel editor in 1979. In addition to running the section and assigning stories to writers, he continued to write reports from around the world and also wrote a weekly column.

In 1986, he broke a story about the scams that had been launched in Chicago by fake vacation brokers who took consumers’ fees, but then denied them trips on the dates they wanted. Ultimately, the brokers were targeted by the Federal Trade Commission and sued by the State Attorney General’s Office before the State General Assembly passed legislation outlawing such travel promoters.

Borcover continued to focus on travel scams, and his columns were distributed nationally through Tribune wire services.

“Even though he was based here in Chicago, his syndicated stories and columns traveled as he did,” said Randy Curwen, who succeeded Borcover as the Tribune’s Travel Editor. “As a travel writer, editor and columnist, Al certainly knew his way around the world. And everyone in the travel world knew Al.

In addition to basic information about destinations, such as maps and costs, Borcover offers personal observations in its stories.

“What struck me… is that I don’t feel like I’m in South America,” Borcover wrote in March 1983 on a trip to Buenos Aires. “The ambiance and architecture of the city – from the colorful Italian district of La Boca with its brightly painted houses to the grand scale of Avenida 9 de Julio – were decidedly European. The undiluted ethnicity of the few gracious residents I met, and others I heard, left me with the quick impression that this melting-pot country had not melted as in the original language of the United States it had not not buried, but preserved.”

RC “Dick” Longworth, the Tribune’s retired foreign correspondent, recalled Borcover’s “always upbeat and good” personality.

“Al was one of the nicest guys in the Tribune newsroom,” Longworth said. “He was also a true teacher, a graceful writer and a good editor whose own sense of fun and adventure infused the Travels section of the paper.”

After visiting 60 countries, Borcover stepped down as travel editor in 1993 and retired from the Tribune in February 1994.

“People always ask: What’s your favorite place?” Borcover wrote in his farewell column. “I’ll never have an adequate answer. There are too many places in the world to love, and I haven’t finished seeing everything I want to see. There’s no end in sight.”

Borcover continued to write about travel for another 17 years as a freelancer, including a biweekly column for the Travel section.

Shortly after his last signing at the Tribune in 2011, Borcover began volunteering at O’Hare International Airport with Travelers Aid, working at an information desk.

“He loved volunteering to work on the travel desk at O’Hare, and he went every week, for a while, to sit at that desk in one of the terminals and offer advice and help to travelers,” said the former Tribune Storer correspondent.” Bob “Rowley, a longtime friend.

A first marriage ended in divorce.

No service is planned.

Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.

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Originally Posted: January 29, 2024 at 11:53 am