Drew Limsky Ascends to the Editorship at BJT

Drew Limsky, a nationally recognized business, lifestyle, and transportation writer—and an eight-time lead editor—has been tapped to be the Editor of BJT. 

He has contributed to the magazine since 2020 (writing about such locales as Bora Bora, the Amalfi Coast, and the Côte d'Azur), joining BJT full-time on January 1, 2024, to work with former Editor Jeff Burger, who had been at the publication for two decades. In the past few months, Drew has written about soccer icon Lionel Messi, “the Wolf of Wall Street” Jordan Belfort, and Taylor Swift’s private-jet-aided sprint to make it to Super Bowl LVIII. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever worked with such a professional, inclusive, and collaborative team,” Drew said, “and my colleagues’ knowledge about the private aviation industry is encyclopedic—and peerless.”

Drew was the print and digital editor in chief of South Florida Business & Wealth and South Florida Legal Guide from 2020 to 2023. Under Drew’s leadership, South Florida Business & Wealth doubled its website traffic (from 2022 to 2023), and for the first time in its history, SFBW won major awards from the Florida Magazine Association, including prizes for Best Overall Writing, Best Overall Design, and Best Overall Magazine Website. 

Drew was the founding editor in chief and art director of the acclaimed magazine, Interiors South Florida (2013-2019), which covered real estate, architecture and interior design, and a contributing editor at Miami magazine.

Earlier in his career, Drew made his mark in global content marketing, with his longest tenure as the founding editor in chief and art director of Holland America’s Mariner magazine (2009-2012; 2015-2020), which won a slew of national awards. Drew was also the founding editor in chief of Cadillac (2013-2016), a 100-page luxury lifestyle publication for the leading American luxury car brand, as well as executive editor of B2B magazines for Honda and Acura Financial Services.

While Drew was the global editor in chief of the luxury lifestyle magazine Lexus (2007-2012), the digital and print publication led the custom content industry in accolades and reach. At its height, Lexus enjoyed a global circulation of 1.2 million copies and appeared in more than a dozen countries and in multiple languages. Drew was recruited for the Lexus role—his first editor in chief position—around the same time he filmed several appearances as a commentator on The Travel Channel and at the end of an 18-month run as a travel editor for Conde Nast.

All told, Drew's publications have garnered more than 80 awards, besting print and digital products from Mercedes-Benz, Four Seasons, Bentley, JW Marriott, Qantas, HP, Qatar Airways, Diageo/Johnnie Walker, Meredith, Pace, Rodale, Bauer Media, and Whole Foods.

Drew earned his JD and PhD in English from New York University. After completing his law degree, with a focus on employment law, he was admitted to the New York and New Jersey state bars. He also holds a BA (summa cum laude in English) from Emory University and an MA in literature (fellowship) from American University. "At American, I learned that words should clarify, not obscure," Drew said. "I was taught that by Washington Post editor David Nicholson. I always try to mention him because he was so instrumental to my career. It shows that one person, one meeting, one phrase can change your life." Drew was soon teaching writing at American, and later, in New York, where he was an adjunct assistant professor at Hunter College and an adjunct associate professor at Pace University.

His PhD dissertation focused on the nonfiction works of Joan Didion. Drew’s articles about Didion’s work have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Time Out New York, and Poets & Writers; his review of Didion’s bestselling memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking (2005), was published in the Boston Globe. 

Drew began his journalism career while a graduate student at American, freelancing for the LGBT newspaper the Washington Blade, followed by amassing bylines in the Washington Post. He went on to write for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Robb Report, Men’s Journal, Architectural Digest, Business Insider, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Baltimore Sun, San Francisco Chronicle, Afar, Worth, USA Today, Yahoo! Travel, National Geographic Traveler, Elite Traveler, Metropolis, New York Daily News and American Way (American Airlines). Drew’s creative nonfiction has been cited twice in The Best American Essays, while his short fiction and poetry have appeared in Other Voices, Sulphur River Literary Review, Christopher Street, and anthologies published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux and Faber & Faber.

Drew has spent most of his adult life in New York, in recent years dividing his time between Miami Beach, Brooklyn Heights, and Cape Cod.