Joel Reitman is currently retired and writing short stories. Life for him began in Brooklyn and his stories reflect the atmosphere of those early years. Joel mixes in street games, trolley cars and city life with his favorite pastime, baseball. An avid lover of animals, Joel also writes about several of his favorite furry friends. Automobiles have always fascinated Joel from wanting to design them to actually racing them. His forays into the world of formula auto racing are also reflected in Joel's stories.
Joel graduated from high school in Long Beach California and earned two degrees from the Uni-versity of Cincinnati in Ohio - a B.S in design and an M.S. in education. His working career began, in Patchogue, New York, began as an art teacher. Later Joel became a special education teacher working with young adults. As he neared retirement, Joel wrote a weekly column about high school sports for the Smithtown Messenger. His stories grew to include politics, pollution and local Long Island news. When he moved east to the North Fork of Long Island the column be-came a second career in journalism, writing for the Traveler Watchman.
Joel has presented at the Stony Brook museum, and several public libraries. His other passion is photography. Joel often has several photographs on display at various locations on the North Fork of Long Island, where he now resides with his wife, Anne. They are well cared for, as usual, by the newest furry friend, Kassie.
Published Works:
Exploring Long Island's North Fork: Second Edition
Always wondering where to find where things are when visiting the North Fork of Long Island? This updated second edition of the guide will give you valuable information on places to visit, to to eat, where to stay what things children and adults might enjoy. There is even an authors choice section to guide you along the way. Since you can traverse the North Fork in one day there is a special section with driving instructions for a scenic trip along this farm and wine country area of Long Island. With over 45 wineries and multiple places to stay and eat this area is a must visit!
Published 2023.
What Lies Below
It's a story that explores a murder that's really isn't, somewhat like Snow Falling on Cedars. This is a story of government secrets whose truth is hidden beneath the bunkers of a state park in Montauk, New York. Those secrets occasional appear in the polluted rivers of Long Island.It's really the story of Tim Cullen, a young investigative reporter, who's enmeshed in a deep and diverse story of political and military secrets.
He exposes a plan to smuggle cars to Cuba from a deserted and polluted Air Force base in Arizona. Beaten down by disbelieving citizens and politicians, Tim packs up and heads to Long Island. He reunites with his buddy, Detective Ed Green, who is at the scene of a murder. A deer suffering from nuclear poisoning unexpectedly leads the two pals to a secret government program at the end of Long Island, Montauk Point.
There, hidden within a state park, is a sense of mystery surrounding a camouflaged village with underground bunkers, a vintage radar antenna and the lost experiments of Nikola Tesla. The two buddies seek to link polluting nuclear reactors and three unique radar towers to try and prove the existence of a secret government experiment.
This story was inspired by a piece I wrote as a journalist working for the Smithtown Messenger (a weekly) and reoccurred when I was also employed as a journalist by Southold's Traveler Watchman (also a weekly newspaper). Those pieces revolved around an underground plume of nuclear contamination that was from an unknown source. Other stories I have written have been published (Outta Here - Jackie Robinson) in The Storyteller magazine and in Newsday (Topping my list of Man's Best Friend).
Published 2018.
B is For Brooklyn D is For Dog
These series of short stories begin with a butcher block table in a Southold New York eatery that brings back flavors of a Brooklyn delicatessen. Joel's Brooklyn stories remind us of old radio shows and 42 - Jackie Robinson's number when he came to the Dodgers in 1947. In another story, taxis roam under the Queensborough bridge and in yet another, model airplanes soar over a Los Angeles suburb. The book moves west along a road that doesn't exist - Route 66 - to a school that reminds one of the movie Grease. There also several stories of cars racing in the sands of the fabled Hamptons. And, of course, fond memories of furry friends fill several chapters.
Joel Reitman is currently retired and writing short stories. Life for him began in Brooklyn and his stories reflect the atmosphere of those early years. Joel mixes in street games, trolley cars and city life with his favorite pastime, baseball. An avid lover of animals, Joel also writes about several of his favorite furry friends. Automobiles have always fascinated Joel from wanting to design them to actually racing them. His forays into the world of formula auto racing are also reflected in Joel's stories.
Always wondering where to find where things are when visiting the North Fork of Long Island? This updated second edition of the guide will give you valuable information on places to visit, to to eat, where to stay what things children and adults might enjoy. There is even an authors choice section to guide you along the way. Since you can traverse the North Fork in one day there is a special section with driving instructions for a scenic trip along this farm and wine country area of Long Island. With over 45 wineries and multiple places to stay and eat this area is a must visit!
It's a story that explores a murder that's really isn't, somewhat like Snow Falling on Cedars. This is a story of government secrets whose truth is hidden beneath the bunkers of a state park in Montauk, New York. Those secrets occasional appear in the polluted rivers of Long Island.It's really the story of Tim Cullen, a young investigative reporter, who's enmeshed in a deep and diverse story of political and military secrets.
These series of short stories begin with a butcher block table in a Southold New York eatery that brings back flavors of a Brooklyn delicatessen. Joel's Brooklyn stories remind us of old radio shows and 42 - Jackie Robinson's number when he came to the Dodgers in 1947. In another story, taxis roam under the Queensborough bridge and in yet another, model airplanes soar over a Los Angeles suburb. The book moves west along a road that doesn't exist - Route 66 - to a school that reminds one of the movie Grease. There also several stories of cars racing in the sands of the fabled Hamptons. And, of course, fond memories of furry friends fill several chapters.
*no longer in print.
