Connie Schultz
Connie Schultz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and the author of the 2020 New York Times bestselling novel, The Daughters of Erietown. She is also Professional in Residence at her alma mater, Kent State University, in the school of journalism.
In addition to the Pulitzer, Schultz won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award for commentary and the National Headliner Award for commentary. She was also elected to the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame.
She was a 2003 Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature writing for her series "The Burden of Innocence," which chronicled the ordeal of Michael Green, who was imprisoned for 13 years for a rape he did not commit. The week after her series ran, the real rapist turned himself in after reading her stories. He is currently serving a five-year prison sentence. Her series won numerous honors, including the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Social Justice Reporting, the National Headliner Award's Best of Show and journalism awards from both Harvard College and Columbia University.
In 2004, Schultz won the Batten Medal, which honors "a body of journalistic work that reflects compassion, courage, humanity and a deep concern for the underdog."
In addition to her novel, Schultz is the author of two memoirs, Life Happens – And Other Unavoidable Truths (2006), and … And His Lovely Wife (2007).
Schultz is married to U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. They have four children and eight grandchildren, and live with their rescue dogs, Franklin and Walter.