Robert Reinhold; Times Editorial Writer
Robert Reinhold, veteran journalist of the New York Times for 30 years and most recently an editorial writer for the Los Angeles Times, died Wednesday night in his Los Angeles home. He was 54.
Dr. Timothy Clougsey, UCLA neuro-oncologist, said Reinhold died of complications from a malignant brain tumor discovered Nov. 3.
“Robert Reinhold brought an elegance and an intellectual range to his writing that brightened the editorial pages of the Los Angeles Times,” commented Shelby Coffey III, Times editor and executive vice president. “He had a distinguished career, much of it on the New York Times, as a premier journalist handling issues from science to sociology to major breaking news. He brought the wit and drive of a great colleague to every assignment and to everyday life. His colleagues and his readers will feel the loss of his talent and his many kindnesses.”
Janet Clayton, Los Angeles Times editor of the editorial pages and Reinhold’s supervisor, said: “Extraordinary reporters are not always extraordinary editorial writers. But Bob was both--and a writer of lyrical grace and wit. He will certainly be missed.”
Mourned on both coasts, Reinhold was characterized by New York Times managing editor Gene Roberts as “one of the very best reporters in America.”
“We put him in Boston as sort of an intellectual affairs correspondent,” said Roberts, who as national editor moved Reinhold to his staff in 1969. “At that time he was one of the youngest reporters on the paper and one of the most promising. And he certainly fulfilled his promise.”
David Jones, another of Reinhold’s former New York Times national editors, said: “He is one of the finest journalists I have ever worked with in my 40 years in the business. He was not only a fine journalist but a fine person, a real gentleman, a fine human being, and somebody who we at The Times have held in great affection.”
A native of New York City, Reinhold grew up in Brooklyn and studied at Midwood High School and Johns Hopkins University.
He started working for the New York Times as a copy boy in 1964 while seeking a master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University. He rose rapidly to news clerk, news assistant and then science news reporter before he joined the national staff.
In addition to Boston, Reinhold worked in the paper’s Washington, D.C., office and its Houston bureau before moving west to head the New York Times’ Los Angeles bureau.
Reinhold joined the Los Angeles Times editorial writing staff in 1994.
He is survived by his father, Meyer Reinhold, and sister, Helen Barrett, both of Nashville, Tenn., and his partner, Michael R. Mueller.
Services are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Sunday at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, with a reception following at Reinhold’s home. Any memorial contributions can be made to the Robert Reinhold Memorial Scholarship for Young Journalists at 1734 N. Gardner St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90046.
