“Dear Abby” advice columnist, Pauline Friedman Phillips, died in Minneapolis after a long fight with Alzheimer’s disease as per reports from The New York Times on Jan. 17.
Phillips was 94, the sister of Ann Landers. "Dear Abby" and her celebrity sister were in a heated feud for some time due to their competing advice columns. The pen name, Abigail Van Buren was born when Phillips first started her "Dear Abby" column in 1956.
For more than 40 years, “Dear Abby” helped many a couple find their way back to happiness after offering them insightful and comical advice. When she first married her husband, Pauline Friedman Phillips was sure she would stay at home and have “no career”. She commented once to The Los Angeles Times:
“It never occurred to me that I’d have any kind of career,”
“But after I was married, I thought, ‘There has to be something more to life than mah-jongg.’ ”
In 2002, Jean Phillips, “Dear Abby's” daughter took over the column when Pauline was no longer able to manage tasks related to her advice column. Jean reflects on the loss of her mother Pauline:
"She'll be terribly missed by the people who love her. She'll always be in my heart. She had an irreverent sense of humor. She left an amazing legacy,"
"I'm honored that she trusted me enough to let me continue her column for her. I feel very empty today. It's a very sad day."
Sources: People, The New York Times, TMZ
People shares a well known quote from “Dear Abby” advice columnist:
"The purpose of life is to amount to something and have it make some difference that you lived at all."
Indeed, "Dear Abby" made a difference in many lives during her years as a beloved advice columnist.
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