BROOKE GLADSTONE: A few months ago, Doug Gollan, the editor in chief of Elite Traveler Magazine, written for people who own private jets, wrote a letter to his readers. Doug writes these letters every month, but this one seemed to hit a nerve. Harper’s Magazine reprinted it and bloggers discussed it. The letter begins, quote, “As we enter 2009, it is amazing to see how the general media has tried to shame wealthy individuals into not spending. The fact of the matter is the economic slump was not caused by the wealthy, it was caused by aspirational consumers who took out bigger mortgages than they could handle, leased cars they couldn't afford and took vacations they shouldn't have. Should a person with a net worth of, say, 100 million have scaled back his or her holiday party because of the times? If we want to speak about getting the economy going again, the answer is no.” He continues. “I do hope you continue to do the things that provide you the enjoyment that you've earned and your financial wherewithal supports. There are quite a few people depending on it. With best wishes for an Elite 2009, all the best, Doug Gollan.”

BOB GARFIELD: Gollan’s letter suggested that the rich have a bit of a P.R. problem. When we called him in Acapulco - where he is, naturally, on business – he told us he wrote it in response to the outrage surrounding a multimillion-dollar birthday party thrown by Steven Schwarzman, a New York City businessman and investor.

DOUG GOLLAN: If you started to say, where did that two or three million dollars for that party go, well, you know, some of it went to the florist, who employs people and had to furnish all of the table settings and the flowers. Obviously, money was spent on a caterer, and that caterer probably for that evening had to hire additional people - busboys, waiters, bartenders [LAUGHS], you know, the people who clean up after a party for 500 or 600 of your favorite friends. And so, part of the motivation for writing this was understanding the importance that our readers hold for the economy. And my message was really simple. If you want to do it, you’re entitled to do it. By all means do it because you’re going to help the economy more than by keeping the money in the bank.

BOB GARFIELD: So you’re a populist.

DOUG GOLLAN: Yeah, exactly.

BOB GARFIELD: [LAUGHS] Man, yeah well -

DOUG GOLLAN: [LAUGHS]

BOB GARFIELD: - or not.

DOUG GOLLAN: [LAUGHS]

BOB GARFIELD: Did it occur to you that people would read your piece as just tone deaf to the misery and despair of, you know, ordinary people who are in extremis in these difficult economic times?

DOUG GOLLAN: I love when people talk about people being tone deaf because I would turn it right around. What’s better for that caterer in Newark, New Jersey, to have someone throwin’ the party or to tell their people, we have no business this week, I can't pay ya? In terms of having the right message, I think my message is maybe more on target than a lot of the stuff that’s being blabbed about on these nightly cable programs. [LAUGHS]

BOB GARFIELD: Tell me about the audience for Elite Traveler.

DOUG GOLLAN: Six-hundred-and-fifty-thousand readers, the magazine comes out bimonthly. And if you want an average household income, it’s 5.3 million. The main distribution is aboard private jets and also some of the big yachts, in the summer in the Mediterranean, in the winter in the Caribbean.

BOB GARFIELD: When your readership encounters a television show like, for example, Real Housewives of Orange County or Real Housewives of New York or of Atlanta, or any of the places that these freaks reside [LAUGHS] -

DOUG GOLLAN: Right.

BOB GARFIELD: - are they appalled? Are they themselves fascinated? Or are they - you know, is there chagrin over the fact that they're somehow being caricatured, along with the rest of the cartoon characters that populate these shows?

DOUG GOLLAN: [LAUGHS] Well, that’s a, a good question. I would say most of the people on those shows, obviously, don't represent our readership because they're more at that aspirational level, and they're not people who are at the level in terms of wealth where they're flying by private jet.

BOB GARFIELD: Okay, so the hoi polloi have always had a kind of love/hate relationship with the rich. And at a time like this, I suppose the resentment tends to spike.

DOUG GOLLAN: I think, you know, seeing the wealthy on their yachts and their jets was generally tolerable when they were also able to dip their toe in the water. But, obviously, we're in an economic crisis right now, and many of with their mortgages in their own homes, they’re underwater - car payments and things like that - they are having to make cutbacks in their own lifestyle. And, you know, it’s a little bit maybe of envy that they see other people who are financially so well off that they don't have to change the way they live.

BOB GARFIELD: So do you have any other advice for the fundamental P.R. problem in 2009 of having more money than you know what to do with?

DOUG GOLLAN: Unfortunately, it starts to a degree in Washington, D.C., where you have elected officials whose number one job is to get reelected. And certainly, trying to explain to the general public the importance of rich people is probably not what you would call a great campaign platform. So, you know, it’s a challenging time, I do believe, for our readership. But if there’s a good P.R. person out there that’s got an idea, put them in touch with me.

BOB GARFIELD: [LAUGHS] All right. Doug, thank you so much.

DOUG GOLLAN: Bob, it was a real pleasure. And, again, thank you, and a pleasure to talk to you.

BOB GARFIELD: Doug Gollan is president and editor in chief of Elite Traveler Magazine.