Art Rouse
Art Rouse, a Malibu resident and founder of Southern California-based TL Enterprises Inc., an influential force in the growth of the recreational vehicle industry, died Friday at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica from injuries suffered in a fall a few days earlier. He was 89.
As an advertising executive in 1958, Rouse saw increasing public interest in travel trailers, motor homes and other types of camping vehicles as new vacation-travel options. He bought Trailer Life magazine, which had been published by an industry association, established an office in Toluca Lake, and quickly developed a keen sense of what RV owners and prospective buyers would find interesting about this emerging travel-related lifestyle.
He brought sons Denis and Richard into the family business and together, with a small staff, increased circulation from about 11,000 at the time of the purchase to more than 300,000 in less than 10 years. The magazine today is published by Ventura-based Affinity Group Inc., the parent company of RV Business and more than 40 other recreation-linked titles.
As public awareness and industry momentum increased, Rouse founded MotorHome magazine in 1968, recognizing a trend toward motorized RVs. During the same year, he acquired the fledgling Good Sam Club, an RV owners organization that has since grown to more than a million families. Having become an RV enthusiast himself in the process, Rouse penned a monthly column in his magazine, Trailer Life, and was widely recognized as “Mr. RV” during his tenure at the helm of the company he founded. He wrote an autobiography, “My Life on Wheels,” in 1984, and was one of the nine founders of the RV Hall of Fame, where he was inducted in 1986. An estimated 8 million RVs are currently in use.
Rouse’s company was acquired in 1988 by AGI, led today by Mike Schneider, an employee of Rouse’s from his earliest publishing days.
“Art Rouse set the bar for all of us who serve the RV consumer,” Schneider said. “His passion and commitment to the RVer, combined with his innovation and savvy business sense, played a large part in shaping today’s RV community.”
Rouse came out of retirement to partner with Outdoor Resorts of America in developing the exclusive Motorcoach Country Club in Bermuda Dunes, Calif. In 1991, he opened the campground of his dreams, Big Bear Shores RV Resort, an upscale park on the north shore of Big Bear Lake.
Rouse’s passion for RV travel never waned, keeping the wheels of his motorhome rolling right up to the time of his passing. “Art Rouse leaves behind a legacy as ‘Mr. RV’ to the millions of consumers he loved and served through his own passion for RVing,” Schneider said.
Survivors include his wife, Tony, sons Denis and Richard, daughter Lori, 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.