Alexander Frater, the chief travel writer of the Observer from 1986 to 1998 and the author of highly successful travel books, including Chasing the Monsoon (1990), died last week two days short of what would have been his 83rd birthday.
Frater, known to friends outside his craft as Russ (from his first name Russell), dominated travel writing in much the way that Hugh McIlvanney dominated sports writing. He was named travel writer of the year in the British Press awards three years running – from 1990 – having previously been twice commended. Before he specialised, he worked on the Observer Magazine for eight years. While on the magazine, he edited Great Rivers of the World.
He had made his name at Punch, where Miles Kington described him as “the funniest man” to write for the satirical magazine “since the war”. When his Observer colleagues sloped off for a lunchtime pint, Frater would stay, chuckling over his keyboard.
His taste for travel sprang from his exotic background. He was born in Port Vila, Vanuatu: his father was a doctor and later professor at Fiji’s central medical school. Frater was a proud Australian and attended the University of Melbourne before arriving in Britain, where he went to Hatfield College, Durham.
Chasing the Monsoon has been in print for 30 years and is a much enjoyed guide and companion to India. As a travel writer, Frater was among the last of a breed, writing about journeys (and adventures), rather than the beach or the hotel.