Martin Scorsese's 1972 feature film Boxcar Bertha is based on Sister of the Road, one of Reitman's books.

Reitman was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to poor Russian Jewish immigrants in 1879, and grew up in Chicago.

[4] His wife was Mae Schwartz, and their daughter was Jan Gay (born Helen Reitman), the author, nudism advocate, and founder of the nudist Out-of-Door Club at Highland, New York.

[9] The two traveled together for almost eight years, working for the causes of birth control, free speech, worker's rights, and anarchism.

Reitman was kidnapped by a mob, severely beaten, tarred and feathered,[10] branded with "I.W.W.,"[9][11][12][13] and his rectum and testicles were abused.

[14] Several years later, the couple were arrested in 1916 under the Comstock laws for advocating birth control, and Reitman served six months in prison.