Edwin Muller Reingold

Edwin (Ed) Muller Reingold, beloved husband, father, grandfather, international journalist and author, died peacefully on October 25, 2022, in Portland, Oregon at the age of 95. In his nearly 35-year career as a correspondent and bureau chief for the Time-Life News Service/Time magazine, he covered the Caribbean, South America, Africa, Japan, Korea, China, the Philippines, U.S. Midwest and Pacific Basin during pivotal eras for the regions. His books, including the popular "Made in Japan," shared his insights into Japan's culture, politics and business world.

Born September 29, 1927 in Philadelphia, he was the second of three sons of Irving and Esther Reingold. After graduating from high school, Ed served in the U.S. Army Air Corps before attending Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. A skilled trumpet player, he earned college money playing in swing-era jazz bands, graduating in 1950.

His success as a reporter for daily newspapers in Lebanon, Pa., and Columbus, Ohio, led to the start of his career at Time (1958) in Chicago. Soon he was named chief of Time's Miami Bureau (1960). His coverage included NASA's Project Mercury, the Castro revolution in Cuba and the Bay of Pigs invasion.

In Kenya as chief of the Nairobi Bureau (1966-1969) Ed covered a vast geographical area comprising all of sub-Saharan Africa during the continent's tumultuous emergence from the colonial period. Serving as bureau chief in Tokyo (1969-1971) during Japan's rise to global prominence, he reported from Japan, Korea, Micronesia and the Philippines. Returning stateside to lead the Detroit Bureau (1971-1978), he covered the auto industry, organized labor, the energy crisis and increasing Asian competition.

His second Tokyo bureau chief posting came in 1978 when he was assigned to intensify coverage of the economic emergence of Japan and other Pacific Rim nations. As bureau chief, Ed was the architect of Time's 1983 special issue devoted entirely to Japan. At the time, it was one of only five single-subject special issues in the magazine's history. During this period, he served twice as interim chief of the Beijing Bureau. While in Tokyo, he served as the President of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan and on the Board of the Tokyo Jewish Community Center.

Next for Time in Los Angeles, Ed reported on topics from Pacific Basin affairs to the aerospace industry. After retiring, he taught at the Center for International Journalism at the University of Southern California and served as acting director before moving to Portland in 2004.

His first book, "Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony," coauthored with Mr. Morita and Mitsuko Shimomura, became a bestseller in the U.S. and Japan. He followed with "Chrysanthemums and Thorns: The Untold Story of Modern Japan" and "Toyota: People, Ideas and the Challenge of the New."

He and his wife Ellen had a keen eye for contemporary Japanese art prints. Portions of their collection reside at the Los Angeles County Art Museum and were included in exhibitions there in the mid-1990s and 2011. Their pieces were exhibited in "Post-War Masters of the Japanese Print: From the Reingold Collection" at Portland State University's Littman Gallery in 2009. Prints gifted in their honor are also in the collection of the Portland Art Museum.

Ed's interests and good taste made him a Renaissance man. His admiration for the written word and music evolved into hobbies that included an extensive library of books, fine letterpress printing under the name "Cadenza Press" and classical music reviews posted online with colleague Leo Janos.

Despite the demands of his career, Ed never failed to lavish love and attention on his family. He is survived by his adoring wife Ellen, daughters Susan, Joyce, Laura (Charles), Anne (Randall) and Jane (David), and grandchildren Madison, Nathaniel, Daniel, Jordan, Samantha, Jo, Joseph and Maia. He was preceded in death by his parents and brothers, Alfred (Fred) and Leonard (Lenny).