Academic and Career Accomplishments
Regina Brett graduated from Ravenna High School in 1974. She credits the teachers and staff at RHS with fostering her love of writing. Regina is the author of the New York Times Bestseller God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life’s Little Detours” and “Be the Miracle: 50 Lessons for Making the Impossible Possible. She received a Bachelor’s degree in journalism from Kent State and a Masters degree in religious studies from John Carroll University. Before her writing career, she worked as a waitress, emergency medical technician, alcoholism counselor, traffic court clerk and legal secretary Regina has been writing professionally since 1986 when she covered city hall for the Lorain Journal. She soon moved to the Beacon Journal in Akron where she covered business news, social services and breaking news. She also wrote nearly 30 magazine stories for the Beacon Sunday Magazine. She became a newspaper columnist in 1994. She joined The Plain Dealer as a columnist in 2000. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary in both 2008 and 2009. She received two first place National Headliner Awards, one for columns about her experience with breast cancer and the other detailing her family history of cancer. She won the prestigious Batten Medal in 1999, awarded by Knight-Ridder for lifetime achievement. The American Bar Association awarded Regina the organization’s Silver Gavel award for her columns on open discovery which changed the law governing open discovery across the entire state of Ohio. The award is given to media professionals who help foster the public’s understanding of the law and legal system. She won a humor writing award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. In 2009, Regina received “Best Columnist in Ohio” from the Associated Press of Ohio. In 2003, both the Press Club of Cleveland and the Society of Professional Journalists gave Regina their “Best Columnist in Ohio” award. Regina began hosting a weekly radio show in 2010 on Ohio’s NPR affiliate, WKSU 89.7FM. “The Regina Brett Show” is podcast on www.wksu.org/regina. Regina was inducted into the Journalism Hall of Fame in 2009.