Interview with Hackie Reitman - Humble Renaissance Man

Harold “Hackie” Reitman is one of the most interesting and multi-talented folks I've ever met.  In his very “out-of-the-box” career, Hackie has been a distinguished orthopedic surgeon,  a professional heavyweight boxer, an author of books and screenplays, a filmmaker, and an advocate, mentor, and entrepreneur for the neuro-diverse community.  With all that under his belt, Hackie is humble, self-effacing with a great sense of humor, and I came away thinking someone should make a movie about this guy’s life because it’s so fantastical.

 As a teen, Hackie developed some skills in basketball and boxing and after high school was accepted into the six-year medical program at Boston University.  As a first-year medical student at Boston University, Hackie entered and won the prestigious amateur Lowell New England Golden Gloves Boxing Championship at heavyweight, with all four wins coming by knockout.  He was then offered a very lucrative contract to box professionally but turned it down to return to medical school, (and boy, is there a great story behind that)!

 In 1987, Hackie’s only daughter, Rebecca, age two, required emergency surgery for a brain tumor and it turned out to be a life-changing event for both. Hackie made a pact with God that if Rebecca survived, he’d return to boxing at the then “way-too-old -to-be-doing-this” age of 38 and direct all his prize winnings to children’s charities. (I vaguely remember at that time the media frenzy about “the Boxing Doctor” and his unlikely career change at age 38).  Rebecca survived and Hackie went on to fight 26 bouts with a record of 13 wins, 7 losses, and 6 draws. Most impressively, Hackie was knocked down, but never counted out in any bout.   

 Hackie went on to become the founder of a media company, PCE media, and wrote, produced, and directed the movie, “The Square Root of 2”, a full-length film starring Darby Stanchfield from the hit show “Scandal”. The film is based on Rebecca’s struggles with learning disorders while pursuing a mathematics degree at Georgia Tech University. After her graduation,  Hackie discovered that Rebecca was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, an illness with which he was totally unfamiliar even as an M.D. So of course he studied up and wrote the book, “Aspertools: The Practical Guide for Understanding and Embracing Asperger’s, Autism Spectrum Disorders and Neurodiversity.

Hackie became a huge advocate for the neuro-diverse community, arguing that our brains all work differently and one size does not universally fit all.  He is the founder of the neuro-diversity website DiferentBrains.org. which is a repository for his various advocacy, mentoring, interviewing, and video projects dedicated to bringing the neurodiversity community and education into the mainstream.