Fred J. Eckert’s life-long love of photography was probably greatly influenced by the fact that he was born and raised in Rochester, New York -- also hometown to Kodak.

As a youngster, he played baseball in a Kodak league, attended high school within the shadows of Kodak Park and even appeared in a group photo in one of Kodak’s famed Grand Central Station gigantic enlargements. As a young advertising agency account executive, he worked on Kodak public relations accounts and wrote tips on photography for Snaps, a popular Kodak consumer service publication.

In his late 20s he served as the elected CEO of a large (pop. 85,000) Rochester suburb in which Kodak operates plants. Kodak’s headquarters and principal manufacturing facility are located in the districts he later represented in the New York State Senate and in the United States Congress.

Fred’s exemplary performance in public office was the subject of an admiring Reader's Digest profile and also drew accolades for his statesman stance from many other leading publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and every other major newspaper in New York State.

He served as a U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, based in Rome, where he was the permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations Agencies for Food & Agriculture; and he served as U.S. Ambassador to Fiji and other island countries of the South Pacific. The State Department awarded him the U.S. Foreign Service "Meritorious Honor Award."

In addition to his public service as a statesman and diplomat, Fred’s unusually diverse and distinguished career includes successes as a businessman in advertising and public relations and in real estate development, as an author, as a novelist, as a nationally-syndicated and award-winning travel writer and as a professional photographer.

He is author-photographer of three photo books -- FIJI: Pacific Paradise; FIJI: Some Enchanted Islands and TONGA: The Friendly Islands. His writing has appeared in a number of national magazines, including Outdoor Life, The Wall Street Journal and Readers’ Digest, for whom he wrote the “Unforgettable” tribute to his writing mentor, Pulitzer-prize-winning Civil War historian Bruce Catton and for whom he wrote a profile about a then much lesser known computer industry superstar named Michael Dell.

Fred’s political satire novel, Hank Harrison for President, was aclaimed by Library Journal as "one of the best political spoofs since The Mouse That Roared" and touted by both leading Republicans (“Great political satire” – Bob Dole) and leading Democrats (“It’s funny!” – Mario Cuomo.

His travel features and travel images have appeared in more than 200 major newspapers throughout the United States and Canada and have been translated into Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. He was awarded the State of Mississippi Governor’s Award for Travel Writer/Travel Photographer of the Year.

Fred’s enjoyment of travel, love of photography, and keen intellectual curiosity has led him to explore major attractions and out-of-the-way spots on all seven continents.