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Al Reinert

Al Reinert's Profile Photo

Al Reinert was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He wrote for Texas Monthly—first as a staff writer, later as a contributor—from 1973 to 2014. Reinert grew up in Fort Worth and got his start in journalism as a crime reporter for the Houston Chronicle. Texas Monthly’s founding editor, Bill Broyles, later recruited him to be one of TM’s earliest writers. Reinert cowrote the screenplays for the Ron Howard film Apollo 13 and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, but he is best known for directing and producing For All Mankind, an award-winning documentary about NASA’s Apollo program. He died in 2018.

40 Articles

The Culture|
June 6, 2014

High-Heel Homicide

After Ana Trujillo was arrested in the bludgeoning death of her lover, she hired lawyer Jack Carroll to represent her in what became Houston’s splashiest trial of the spring. Did I mention that Carroll is my brother-in-law? And that the murder weapon was a cobalt-blue, five-and-a-half-inch stiletto?

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Drugs|
July 15, 2013

The Best Little Checkpoint in Texas

A dramatic increase in border security over the past six years has made the Sierra Blanca inspection station one of the nation’s toughest. And I oughta know.

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shuttle
Science|
January 21, 2013

The Last Blast

Few things are as majestic as the launch of the space shuttle. But after nearly thirty years, NASA is sending up its final orbiters. Here's the view from up close.

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Film & TV|
February 1, 1990

Lost in Space

Locked away in NASA’s storage vaults was some of the most glorious footage ever filmed. I thought turning it into a movie would be a snap. Ten years later I’ve revised my opinion.

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Music|
December 1, 1988

Sax to the Max

A Houston bellhop by day, tenor saxman Grady Gaines has come out of retirement to bring back the trademark sound of a great rock and roll band.

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News & Politics|
November 1, 1988

This Water Is My Water

Cool, clear, and pure, it’s the bounty of the Edwards Aquifer, and if something isn’t done to limit pumping by Hill Country farmers and a thirsty San Antonio, it may also be dry.

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Sports|
September 1, 1979

Football Heroes

The best part of Texas high school football is that it’s the biggest thing in town—and still only a game.

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News & Politics|
June 30, 1979

Moon Struck

Ten years ago the Apollo astronauts, technicians and scientists all, landed on the Moon and touched what poets only dreamed. But that touch changed their lives.

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News & Politics|
December 1, 1973

Briar Patch

TEXAS ON THE POTOMACTHE TOSTADAS WERE (LET’S BE honest now) kind of stale, and the chile con queso was soggy, but, well what the hell, it sure was good to find some real Tex-Mex food.Purists could grumble if they wanted to and point out that the frijoles were little more

By Al Reinert and Sherry Kafka

News & Politics|
November 1, 1973

Briar Patch

RETURN OF THE OLD PUCKERTHE ASTRODOME HAS REALLY OUTDONE itself. They had the help, though, of Hollywood press agentry and one of the bigger mouths in professional sports, so the Dome can’t take all the credit. Irregardless of culpability, it was an impressive show, that King-Riggs tennis match, and it

By Stephen Harrigan, Al Reinert and Jane Sumner

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