Regina Brett


Regina Brett is an American author, inspirational speaker and newspaper columnist currently writing for The Cleveland Jewish News. Her columns are syndicated through Jewish News Service.

Career highlights

She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for commentary in 2008 and 2009. 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.
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 2011-2013, she hosted 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.
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. The "50 Life Lessons" column was expanded to fifty chapters for her first book, "God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life's Little Detours".

Awards and honors