Rich Ratay

Richard Ratay is an author, advertising writer, documentary filmmaker, and commentator whose work explores American life with humor and historical perspective. His book, Don’t Make Me Pull Over! An Informal History of the Family Road Trip, combines popular history and memoir to revisit the golden age of family vacations by car. Drawing on his childhood travels and research, Ratay recalls the highways, roadside attractions, family squabbles, and familiar stops that shaped road trips before digital devices and modern navigation changed the experience. The book considers how the rise of interstate highways helped make family travel a national pastime and how changing habits affected the shared journey.

Ratay graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a journalism degree and spent more than 25 years in advertising, creating campaigns for national and regional brands. He also wrote, directed, and produced the documentary The Distance: A Triathlete’s Journey, and became an Ironman triathlete. In addition to writing, he comments on Green Bay Packers football through radio and podcast appearances.