Dr. Reigstad is a fourth-generation Buffalonian who had parallel careers as a journalist and as an educator. He was a contributing writer and copy editor at the former Buffalo Courier-Express (a paper that Mark Twain worked for) and the Niagara Gazette. Dr. Reigstad is an Emeritus Professor of English at Buffalo State University, where he taught courses in writing, American literature, and preparing secondary English teachers. He was a Researcher-in-Residence at the Center for Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College, and has published articles in The Mark Twain Journal, along with two books about Twain's connection to Buffalo: Scribblin for a Livin: Mark Twain's Pivotal Period in Buffalo (2018), and The Illustrated Mark Twain and the Buffalo Express: 10 Stories and Over a Century of Sketches (2024). Dr. Reigstad served two terms as a board members of the Ken-Ton school district and is currently a trustee on the Town of Tonawanda Library Board.