Lorrie Lynch is Director of Features for AARP Media, creating content across a variety of topic areas for the non-profit association’s print publications and online platforms. In that role, Lynch over- sees editorial travel coverage for the National Magazine Award-winning AARP The Magazine and all content for the organization’s robust travel website. An editor with AARP for seven years, Lynch has developed content plans in travel, entertainment, lifestyle, health and healthy living portfo- lios, all helping to strengthen the organization’s relationship with members and reach new audiences online and in print through inspiration and service.

Lynch is a longtime news, feature and contemporary culture writer and editor whose national media career began at USA TODAY. She was bureau chief in San Francisco as Silicon Valley was emerging and a Washington-based correspondent traveling the country on general assignments before she became editor of the paper’s daily celebrity and entertainment focused People report. She continued her focus on entertainment journalism at USA WEEKEND, the Sunday newspaper magazine, as senior editor and columnist.

An occasional teacher of college journalism, Lynch is author of the high school textbook Exploring Journalism and the Media. On the side, she is a certified yoga teacher leading two classes weekly.

If you could have a job outside of travel editorial, what would it be?

Leading yoga retreats on a tropical island.

What is your favorite book genre? What are you reading now?

I have three books going right now and they reflect my favorite genres:

1. Elizabeth George’s The Punishment She Deserves – an intriguing mystery
2. First-time novelist Lisa Halliday’s Asymmetry — intelligent contemporary fiction
3. Tina Brown’s gossipy memoir The Vanity Fair Diaries 1983-1992

When you travel for a week or more, what is the item you can’t leave without (excluding your passport, of course)?

My vanity is showing, but it’s my makeup bag.

You’re invited to ride the Orient Express. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you want in your car?

Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley and more), Richard Ford (want to delve deeper into that Frank Bascombe character) and Gloria Steinem (Ms. magazine shaped me).

What do you enjoy most about your job?

The morning meetings in which we discuss stories and issues of the day and how they affect the people we address.

What new place would you like to visit? Why?

Italy. Because it calls to me.

What are the essentials of a memorable travel story?

• Details—generally acquired in keen observation—sprinkled like magic dust throughout the narrative, giving the reader a sense of place.
• Explanation (quotes) from people who know and understand the place and why people go there.
• Insight that comes with authority; true knowledge of what makes a place and its people distinctive.
• Crisp, clear writing. No ‘travelese’ or clichés.
  
  

What are your goals for AARP The Magazine in 2018?

Our magazine is the largest magazine in the country and the best read. That’s an amazing place to be. Our goal is to keep that high level of work going and surpass our own bar with every issue.  We work hard to produce high quality stories in every topic area—money, health, entertainment and, of course, travel—and a mix of content in every issue that will keep people reading.

However, when it comes to travel, my team spends a good portion of our time producing online content. AARP members say travel is their No. 1 aspiration.  We want our website to be the No. 1 place they go to as they dream, plan and book.