Shirley Cothran Barret (born September 18, 1952,

Denton County, Texas Denton County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 906,422, making it the seventh-most populous county in Texas. The county seat is Denton, Texas, Denton. The county, which ...

) is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Texas.

Early life and education

She graduated from Denton High School in 1970 and was the second

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

from that high school as

Phyllis George Phyllis Ann George (June 25, 1949 – May 14, 2020) was an American businesswoman, actress, and sportscaster. In 1975, George was hired as a reporter and co-host of the CBS Sports pre-show ''The NFL Today'', becoming one of the first women t ...

was crowned Miss America before her in 1971. She later attended

North Texas State University The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

and earned her bachelor of science in elementary education and her master's degree in guidance counseling. Cothran later used the scholarship money she earned from her Miss America win towards her Ph.D. in early childhood education and family counseling.

Life and career

She was crowned Miss Texas 1974 and won the Miss America 1975 title. She currently tours as a

motivational speaker A motivational speaker (or inspirational speaker) is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep ta ...

and still resides in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. She appeared, with her husband and three sons, on the television game show

Family Feud ''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. Two families compete on each episode to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes. The show has had three separate runs, the ...

in the season 19 episodes 62 and 64.

Personal life

Cothran married Richard Barret in 1976 and has four children: David, Julia, John, and Mark.

References

External links

Official website
Miss America winners People from Fort Worth, Texas American motivational speakers Living people 1953 births Miss America Preliminary Swimsuit winners Miss America 1975 delegates {{US-pageant-bio-stub