Bea Hines’s journey into journalism began as a young widow working as a maid, when she answered an Equal Opportunity ad at the Miami Herald. She started in the paper’s “morgue” while taking classes at Miami-Dade College, where Fred Shaw, a professor and Herald book editor, encouraged her to change her major to journalism. At the Herald, three white women—her journalism teacher, an assistant editor, and a reporter—became her advocates.

With their support, Bea was hired as a writer and, in 1970, became the Herald’s first Black female reporter. Over her decades-long career as a columnist, her heartfelt storytelling earned national recognition, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination. Today, she continues to inspire audiences nationwide with her warmth, authenticity, humor, and life lessons.