In April 2004, Gary Walther was named Editor in Chief of Luxury SpaFinder Magazine with a mandate to transform the publication from a spa travel resource to the authority on luxury spas and associated lifestyle pursuits for affluent consumers. Mr. Walther, who previously served as editor in chief for American Express's Departures Magazine, joined SpaFinder to spearhead a major design and editorial upgrade of SpaFinder Magazine. Retitled Luxury SpaFinder Magazine, the publication now focuses on a range of topics --luxury travel, home-spa design and hardware, spa cuisine, wellness, beauty, and spa-inspired fashion. Mr. Walther has been a writer and editor for 25 years, parlaying his love of travel into an impressive career as a travel and lifestyle writer and editor. He served as associate and senior editor at Travel + Leisure from 1986 to 1989 and was then sent by American Express Publishing to Great Britain to head Departures, which the company produced for American Express Platinum and Gold card members. Foreseeing a demand for a luxury lifestyle magazine based on connoisseurship, Mr. Walther changed Departures radically, broadening its editorial scope to include real estate, high-end luxury goods, men's style, fine jewelry, and home furnishings. In May 2000, Mr. Walther left Departures to launch Expedia Travels, a Ziff Davis publication aimed at the affluent traveler with an interest in using the power of the Internet to set his or her own itinerary. Mr. Walther then worked as an editorial consultant for Worth magazine, advising on design and on the creation of lifestyle editorial, and also as a consultant to Angeles Publications, a division of the Tribune Company, where he revamped Distinction, a lifestyle magazine for residents of the most affluent zip codes in Los Angeles and Orange County. Mr. Walther attended Washington University and the Goethe Institute in Vienna.