{{Short description|American journalist (born 1956)}} {{Infobox person | name = Regina Brett | image = Reginabrett.jpg | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1956|5|31|mf=y}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Journalist | other_names = | title = Author, inspirational speaker, columnist | family = | spouse = | children = | relatives = | credits = | website = {{URL|www.reginabrett.com}} }}
'''Regina Brett''' (born May 31, 1956) is an American author, inspirational speaker and newspaper columnist currently writing for ''The Cleveland Jewish News''. Her columns are syndicated through Jewish News Service.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hachettespeakersbureau.com/ReginaBrett|title=Regina Brett: Hachette Speakers Bureau|publisher=|accessdate=1 February 2017}}</ref> Brett's debut book "God Never Blinks" has been translated into 24 languages, and she has written 9 books for the Polish market, which have sold 900,000 copies.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reginabrett.com/about-regina |website=ReginaBrett.com |access-date=16 October 2024 |title=About Regina Brett }}</ref> Her latest book, "52 Words That Will Change Your Life … One Week at a Time" was released in October, 2025.<ref>{{cite web |title=52 Words That Will Change Your Life … One Week at a Time |url=https://www.grayco.com/product/52-words-that-will-change-your-life-one-week-at-a-time/ |website=Gray & Company |access-date=17 October 2025}}</ref>
==Career highlights== She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for commentary in 2008 and 2009.<ref>Kroll, John [http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/04/regina_brett.html "Regina Brett named finalist for Pulitzer Prize"] April 7, 2008</ref> Her first book, "God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life's Little Detours" was published in April, 2010 by Grand Central Publishing. It is now in 26 countries. Her second book, "Be the Miracle: 50 Lessons for Making the Impossible Possible", was published in 2012. Her third book, "God is Always Hiring: 50 Life Lessons for Finding Fulfilling Work," was published in 2015. All three books have been bestsellers in Poland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.empik.com/szukaj/produkt?author=Brett%20Regina|title=Regina Brett - sklep internetowy empik.com|publisher=|accessdate=1 February 2017}}</ref>
From 2000 to 2017, she wrote columns for ''The Plain Dealer'', Ohio's largest newspaper. Before that, Brett worked as a columnist for the Akron Beacon Journal in Akron, Ohio for seven years. Over the course of her career, Brett has written over 2,500 newspaper columns.
From 2006 to 2010, Brett hosted ''The Sound of Ideas'', a radio show on Cleveland NPR affiliate WCPN 90.3 FM. From 2011 to 2013, she hosted [http://www.reginabrettshow.org/ ''The Regina Brett Show''] on Akron, Ohio NPR affiliate WKSU 89.7 FM. The weekly program was inspired by Brett's book.
Brett has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master's degree in religious studies from John Carroll University.
In 1998, Brett was diagnosed with breast cancer and included her experiences of chemotherapy and her recuperation in her columns in the Akron Beacon Journal. These columns earned her a National Headliner Award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2009Mar27/0,4670,HeadlinerAwardsList,00.html|title=Winners of the 75th National Headliner Awards - Fox News|website=Fox News |agency=Associated Press|date=4 May 2012|publisher=|accessdate=1 February 2017}}</ref>
In 2006, Brett wrote a column for ''The Plain Dealer'' entitled "50 Life Lessons", which has since been the most distributed column she has written to date, appearing on blogs as well as social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook. In many of these instances, Brett is misidentified as a 90-year-old woman.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/glurge/lifelessons.asp|title=Regina Brett - 45 Lessons Life Taught Me|first=David|last=Mikkelson|date=2 June 2009 |publisher=|accessdate=1 February 2017}}</ref> The "50 Life Lessons" column was expanded to fifty chapters for her first book, "God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life's Little Detours".<ref>[http://www.reginabrett.com/press_kit.php Press Kit]</ref>
Brett released her second book, "Be the Miracle: 50 Lessons for Making the Impossible Possible" in 2013, followed by "God Is Always Hiring: 50 Lessons for Finding Fulfilling Work" in 2015 and "Little Detours and Spiritual Adventures: Inspiration for Times When Life Doesn't Go as Planned" in 2024.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brett |first1=Regina |title=My new book full of light for dark times |url=https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/regina_brett/my-new-book-full-of-light-for-dark-times/article_822096b6-8bcf-11ef-8271-8f05683fb09e.html |website=Cleveland Jewish News |access-date=31 October 2024}}</ref> Her latest book, "52 Words That Will Change Your Life… One Week at a Time," was released in October, 2025.<ref>{{cite web |title=52 Words That Will Change Your Life … One Week at a Time |url=https://www.grayco.com/product/52-words-that-will-change-your-life-one-week-at-a-time/ |website=Gray & Company |access-date=17 October 2025}}</ref>
From 2020 to 2022, Brett hosted the podcast ''Little Detours'', which featured interviews with inspirational guests.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reginabrett.com/little-detours-podcast|title=Little Detours|first=|last=|publisher=|accessdate=19 September 2020}}</ref>
In 2024, Brett launched a Substack titled "Little Detours with Regina Brett, which publishes regularly.<ref>{{cite web |title=Little Detours with Regina Brett |url=https://reginabrett.substack.com/ |website=Substack |access-date=31 October 2024}}</ref>
==Awards and honors== *1999 Lifetime Achievement Batten Medal<ref>[http://asne.org/content.asp?pl=30&sl=15&contentid=90 American Society of Newspaper Editors 2009 Awards] February 20, 2009</ref> *2009 Cleveland Press Club Hall of Fame inductee<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pressclubcleveland.com/hall-of-fame-archives.aspx|title=The Press Club of Cleveland - Serving and honoring communications professionals since 1887 - Hall of Fame Archives|first=thunder::tech :: an integrated marketing|last=agency|publisher=|accessdate=1 February 2017}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> *Two-time National Headliner Awards winner.<ref>[http://www.headlinerawards.com/ 2009 National Headliner Awards Winners]</ref> *1998 Northern Ohio Live Magazine Award of Achievement. *National Society of Newspaper Columnists Humor Writer Award (she was the President from 1998 to 1999).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.columnists.com/index.php?ID=32|title=National Society of Newspaper Columnists|publisher=|accessdate=1 February 2017}}</ref> *2003 The Society for Professional Journalists "Best Columnist in Ohio" Award. *Five-time Ohio Associated Press award winner (including Best Columnist in Ohio in 2008 and 2009). *2009 Liberty Bell Award from the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association *2009 Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/initiatives_awards/gavel_awards/win09.html|title=American Bar Association 2009 GAVEL AWARDS Recognizing Outstanding Efforts To Foster Public Understanding of the Law - Public Education|publisher=|accessdate=1 February 2017}}</ref> *2009 Ohio Library Council "Citizen of the Year" *2013 Ohio Excellence in Journalism Award in radio show category *2013 National Federation of Press Women Communications Contest *2014 Simon Rockower Awards for Excellence in Jewish Journalism from the American Jewish Press Association *2014 The Louis Rapoport Award for Excellence in Commentary for newspapers with a circulation of 14,999 and under<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ajpa.org/?page=2014rockower|title=The 33rd Annual Simon Rockower Award Winners - American Jewish Press Association|publisher=|accessdate=1 February 2017}}</ref> *2014 First-place Best of Show Best Columnist 2014 Ohio Society for Professional Journalists *2016 The Louis Rapoport Award for Excellence in Commentary for newspapers with a circulation of 14,999 and under<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ajpa.org/general/custom.asp?page=2017Rockower|title=The 36th Annual Simon Rockower Award Winners|access-date=2017-12-05|archive-date=2017-06-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621051249/http://www.ajpa.org/general/custom.asp?page=2017Rockower|url-status=dead}}</ref> *2016 Best in Ohio from Press Club of Cleveland All Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pressclubcleveland.com/media/documents/EIJ2/2016-eij-results.pdf|title=The 2016 All Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards winners}}</ref> *2018 Best Columnist in Ohio's Best Journalism Contest<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ohionews.org/aws/ONA/pt/sd/news_article/174090/_PARENT/layout_details/false|title=Ohio's Best Journalism Contest announces 2018 winners}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.cleveland.com/brett/ ''The Plain Dealer'' columns] * [http://www.cleveland.com/brett/blog/index.ssf/2006/05/regina_bretts_45_life_lessons.html "50 Life Lessons" column] * [http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/opinion/columnists/regina_brett/ ''Cleveland Jewish News'' columns] * [https://twitter.com/reginabrett Regina Brett on Twitter]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brett, Regina}} Category:1956 births Category:American columnists Category:American women columnists Category:Kent State University alumni Category:Writers from Cleveland Category:Journalists from Cleveland Category:Living people Category:21st-century American women journalists Category:21st-century American journalists Category:21st-century American women writers Category:20th-century American women journalists Category:20th-century American journalists Category:20th-century American women writers