Pauline Friedman Phillips, a.k.a. Abigail Van Buren, the infamous advice columnist and radio show host who originated the much loved "Dear Abby" column died yesterday at the tender age of at 94 in Minneapolis after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
After launching her widely syndicated and distributed column in 1956, Phillips passed the “Dear Abby” torch to her daughter in 2002. The daughter, Jeanne Phillips, now owns the legal rights to the pen name “Dear Abby.”
“Dear Abby” will go down in history as being the world’s most widely distributed column. The column has run in 1,400 newspapers with a daily readership of 100 million according to the BBC.
For many years, “Dear Abby” competed with another tongue-in-cheek advice column written by Ann Landers, who just happened to be Pauline Phillips’ twin sister, Esther Friedman Lederer.
Lederer passed away in 2002.
The girls grew up in Sioux City, Iowa. After having what was characterized as a “strained” relationship during their young adult years, the ladies regained the closeness they had as children after they got older.
You can catch a video of Phillips being interviewed by Larry King, here.
Rest in peace Pauline Friedman Phillips.
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