 He is the author of two nonfiction books, "Dare To Be Great" (1976) and "Public Trust, Private Lust" (1977).He has written articles for "GQ," "Forbes," "USA Today," "Modern Maturity," "Playboy," "Town & Country Travel," "Travel & Leisure," and dozens of other newspapers and magazines.He wrote for the ABC-TV dramatic series "Capital News" and for several years hosted a Saturday-morning radio talk show on political issues for WRC-AM, the NBC-owned and -operated radio station in Washington, D.C.

Maxa's career as a travel journalist started in 1990 when he began contributing bi-weekly travel commentary to the public radio business show "Marketplace."