Jeanne Phillips (Columnist) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News Jeanne Phillips Writer Female Jeanne Phillips is an advice columnist who writes the advice column Dear Abby. She is the daughter of Pauline Phillips, who founded "Dear Abby" in 1956, and her husband, Morton Phillips. In a Dear Abby column on December 12, 2000, Pauline introduced Jeanne as co-creator of Dear Abby. They began to share the byline Abigail Van Buren and both were pictured with the column.… Read More related links Howard Bragman: Gwissues: One On One With Dear Abby (Video) Huffington Post - Jun 07, 2013 '\n Who hasn\'t read the most popular advice column in the world, \"Dear Abby\"? With 1,400 papers running the infamous column and over 110 million people reading it worldwide, a lot of responsibility falls in the hands of Dear Abby. On this week\'s episode of Gwissues, I spend time with the finely polished yet incredibly down-to-Earth <mark>Jeanne Phillips</mark>, who is the voice behind the adored column.

\n\n Founded in 1956 by Jeanne\'s mother, Pauline Phillips, the advice colum... Pauline Phillips, Writer Dear Abby, Dies San Francisco Chronicle - Jan 18, 2013 '\n Pauline Phillips, writer Dear Abby, dies \n\n\n In her first column, published in The Chronicle on Jan. 9, 1956, she gave forthright advice to a 16-year-old who had never been kissed, a fiancee who wanted to know if her diamond was real and a Bay Area secretary who was having an affair with her boss.\n\nWithin two years Dear Abby was in 172 newspapers, and Mrs. Phillips, who started at $20 per article, was making a six-figure salary.\n\n\"If I\'m talented at anything, it\... Dear Abby's Words To Live By Huffington Post - Jan 17, 2013 '\n Dear Abby -- the advice columnist who was credited with dispensing \"uncommon common sense\" to millions of readers throughout the world -- has died at age 94 after a decade-long bout with Alzheimer\'s.

Generations grew up taking advice from Pauline Friedman Phillips, who wrote the long-running \"Dear Abby\" column under the pen name of Abigail Van Buren. \n\n Described by the New York Times in its obituary as \"flinty,\" Phillips -- twin sister of advice columnist Ann Landers -- ... Monique Honaman: Is The Grass Really Greener On The Other Side? Huffington Post - Oct 19, 2012 '\n I grew up reading the \"Dear Abby\" column every morning in the Detroit Free Press. What elementary-aged kid reads Ann Landers? It became part of my morning routine throughout high-school. I even wrote a letter to Ann Landers myself once, but I think my parents took it out of the mailbox and threw it away (Isn\'t tampering with the U.S. Mail a felony?). \n\n Some things never change. I still read the column when I happen to find a newspaper in my hands (as opposed to when I read m... Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Jeanne Phillips. CHILDHOOD 1942 Birth Born in 1942.

1945 3 Years Old Phillips had a brother, Edward "Eddie" Phillips, who was born in 1945 and died in 2011 of multiple myeloma. … Read More According to his obituary in the Star Tribune, Eddie was a "liquor tycoon", a "gifted businessman", and a philanthropist who "enlarged a family tradition of generous giving". He had four children: sons Dean, Tyler, and J.J., and a daughter Hutton; the latter two were twins. Read Less TEENAGE 1956 14 Years Old … Jeanne Phillips (born 1942), also known as Abigail Van Buren, is an American advice columnist who writes the advice column Dear Abby. Read Less She is the daughter of Pauline Esther "Popo" Phillips, who founded Dear Abby in 1956, and her husband, Morton Phillips. … Read More In a Dear Abby column on December 12, 2000, Pauline introduced Jeanne as co-creator of Dear Abby. They began to share the byline Abigail Van Buren and both were pictured with the column.

Read Less THIRTIES 1980 38 Years Old … Jeanne Phillips' Dear Abby column is syndicated in about 1,400 newspapers in the U.S. with a combined circulation of more than 110 million. Dear Abbys website receives about 10,000 letters per week, seeking advice on a large variety of personal matters. <br /><br />Maybe it's her endearing lisp, her Midwest upbringing or her unblinking eyes. When Jeanne asked her mother for an allowance, Pauline answered, "What are you going to do for it?" Pauline then said that her Dear Abby column received a substantial amount of mail from teenagers and that Jeanne could reply to some of them. If Jeanne's responses were "good", her mother would use them in the column. If her responses were not good, Jeanne would rewrite them. Jeanne spent her allowance money on watching movies and plays. She went to San Francisco several times to see the play, Li'l Abner. <br /><br />In the 1970s, Phillips helped her mother write over half of the columns for her nationally syndicated radio show on CBS News.

Read Less In 1980, she became the radio show's column executive editor, and in 1987, she became its co-editor. FORTIES 1987 45 Years Old Beginning in 1987, she worked with her mother on the nationally syndicated Dear Abby column. FIFTIES 2000 58 Years Old She began writing a majority of the columns since the early 1990s, though her mother did not publicly acknowledge her as the column's co-writer until 2000. … Read More Jeanne worked as the writer, while Pauline edited. While Pauline remained at home, Jeanne would manage the office and their paid staff. Mother and daughter were listed as the writers after a December 12, 2000, letter to readers. A photo of the two was affixed to each column. Beginning on July 22, 2002, Jeanne was attributed as the only writer of the column.

Kathie Kerr, a spokeswoman for Universal Press Syndicate, the distributor of the column, said: "Over the past couple of years, Pauline Phillips hasn't had any day-to-day activities with the column."<br /><br /> Every day, her column is read by 110 million people and syndicated in about 1,400 newspapers. Every week, she gets from 5,000 to 10,000 letters and emails asking her for advice. Reading and replying to the mail sometimes takes her more than eight hours a day. After crafting a response, Phillips sets it aside. A few days later, she reviews it to ensure that her feelings about the subject remain unchanged. When she is not knowledgeable about a subject, she consults experts from various fields, including "medical, psychiatric, legal, ethical", and religious. Phillips noted that the column touches on numerous topics, including "organ donation, domestic violence, mental health, child safety, volunteerism, civility, alcohol abuse, inhalant abuse... and the dangers of tobacco". According to Pernell Watson of the Daily Press, Phillips will send an unprinted, confidential reply to readers who send a "self-addressed, stamped envelope".

Read Less Pauline Phillips, writer Dear Abby, dies - SFGate Pauline Phillips, writer Dear Abby, dies By Peter Hartlaub , San Francisco Chronicle Updated 10:51 pm, Thursday, January 17, 2013 Photo: Bob Campbell Close Image 1 of 4 Pauline Phillips, who debuted at The Chronicle in 1956, is seen here in front of an audience at the Emporium in S.F. in 1958. Pauline Phillips, who debuted at The Chronicle in 1956, is seen here in front of an audience at the Emporium in S.F. in 1958. Photo: Bob Campbell Image 2 of 4 This undated handout photo courtesy of Universal Uclick shows Pauline Esther Friedman Phillips, who founded the most widely syndicated column in the world, the "Dear Abby" advice column, in 1956. Pauline Phillips, who consoled millions around the world as the creator of the iconic Dear Abby advice column, has died at the age of 94, her syndication service said January 17, 2013.

In a statement, Universal Uclick said Phillips -- who wrote Dear Abby from 1956 until her daughter Jeanne Phillips formally took over the column and her alias Abigail Van Buren in 2002 -- died Wednesday in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She had fought "a long battle" with Alzheimer's disease, it said. "I have lost my mother, my mentor and my best friend," Jeanne Phillips said in the statement. Phillips, born Pauline Esther Friedman, was the twin sister of Esther Pauline Friedman, better known as the equally famous agony aunt Ann Landers. She died in 2002 after she was diagnosed with cancer. = RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT " AFP PHOTO / UNIVERSAL UCLICK/" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS =HO/AFP/Getty Images less This undated handout photo courtesy of Universal Uclick shows Pauline Esther Friedman Phillips, who founded the most widely syndicated column in the world, the "Dear Abby" advice column, in 1956. Pauline ...

more Photo: Ho, AFP/Getty Images Image 3 of 4 Phillips, who gained international fame for her candid advice to millions of newspaper readers, gets a kiss from Dick Guttman after receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Phillips, who gained international fame for her candid advice to millions of newspaper readers, gets a kiss from Dick Guttman after receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Photo: Carolyn Cole, McClatchy-Tribune News Service Image 4 of 4 Pauline Phillips, posing with a heart wreath in 1965, was known for giving common sense advice to the lovelorn. Pauline Phillips, posing with a heart wreath in 1965, was known for giving common sense advice to the lovelorn. Pauline Phillips, writer Dear Abby, dies 1 / 4 Back to Gallery She started by following her own advice: Be persistent. Pauline Phillips had been rejected in 1955 as an advice columnist for the San Mateo Times . The position at the much larger San Francisco Chronicle was already filled.

But she still strode confidently into the office of Sunday Editor Stanleigh Arnold , draped her mink over the nearest chair and told him she could do it better. Mrs. Phillips got the job, took on the persona Abigail Van Buren , and as Dear Abby left a legacy as one of the most read and most influential columnists of the 20th century. She died Wednesday in Minneapolis at age 94, after battling Alzheimer's disease for more than a decade. From the beginning, she didn't mince words. In her first column, published in The Chronicle on Jan. 9, 1956, she gave forthright advice to a 16-year-old who had never been kissed, a fiancee who wanted to know if her diamond was real and a Bay Area secretary who was having an affair with her boss. "Of course he won't marry you," Mrs. Phillips snapped. "Why should he? He's getting the whole show for the price of the amusement tax." Her column and influence grew quickly. Within two years Dear Abby was in 172 newspapers, and Mrs. Phillips, who started at $20 per article, was making a six-figure salary.

At her peak, her syndicate claimed more than 100 million readers in the United States and abroad. But even as her influence grew, she stayed modest in interviews. As years passed, she developed more relationships with psychologists and other experts, whose input she included in her columns and books. "If I'm talented at anything, it's choosing the letters for the column that can educate the most people and of keeping my answers brief," Mrs. Phillips told The Chronicle in 1981. Twin sisters Mrs. Phillips was born Pauline Esther Friedman in Sioux City, Iowa, on July 4, 1918, just 17 minutes after the birth of her twin, Esther Pauline Friedman, who took over the Ann Landers column after winning a contest in 1955. The sisters wrote an advice column in college , where they studied journalism. Pauline Phillips, known to friends as "Popo," married Morton Phillips at age 21, and moved to Hillsborough. She raised two children in the Bay Area, Edward and future Dear Abby writer Jeanne. Mrs. Phillips reportedly drove up to her Chronicle job interview in a chauffeured yellow Cadillac convertible.

When Arnold told her she could have a couple of days to work on the answers, she traveled a few blocks to her husband's office, told his secretary to move, and knocked out the column in a couple of hours. "By the time she got back to Hillsborough ... they had already called three times," Jeanne Phillips said in a 2009 interview. "They wanted to hire her." She chose the first half of her name from the Old Testament (Abigail, "blessed is thy advice") and the second half from President Martin Van Buren , whose name she thought sounded aristocratic. A frequent sight at city fundraisers in fancy dresses and high heels, Mrs. Phillips often took the side of traditional family values of the 1950s. She wrote in early columns that divorce could be avoided if married couples worked hard enough. Changing her views But as the civil rights movement flourished in the 1960s, Dear Abby took more liberal stances, often way ahead of her time. Mrs. Phillips attended a national transsexual conference in 1975. By the early 1980s she was openly supportive of gays and lesbians. After touring the U.S.

Post Office 's "filthy picture gallery" in 1960 at the invitation of postal executives, she questioned the government's definition of pornography. "Now that big nude there ... the one in color," she told reporters. "It is beautiful. It is art. It is not at all suggestive." Mrs. Phillips added in the same interview: "I'm no crusader. I'm suspicious of crusaders. It has been my experience that those who rant against the evils of drink are taking nips on the sly." Mrs. Phillips moved to Los Angeles in the 1960s, and later to Minneapolis. Jeanne Phillips had been co-writing the column since 1987. The daughter took over full-time in 2002, when it was revealed that Mrs. Phillips had Alzheimer's. In a statement, Jeanne Phillips said her mother battled her illness with "courage and dignity." "As those of you who have read this column when my mother wrote it know, Mama had a deeply caring heart, a lively sense of humor and a deep devotion to all of you," Jeanne Phillips said Thursday.

"She tried every day to educate, enlighten and entertain, and to inspire civility and respect for others in the many thousands of people who sought her advice." Strength from love Pauline Phillips is survived by husband, Morton, her daughter, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Her son Edward died in 2011. The columnist's stance on divorce may have softened over the years, but she often credited her husband for keeping her feeling happy and loved. They were married for 73 years at the time of her death. "I have very little to get angry about. I don't get angry at people," Mrs. Phillips told The Chronicle in 1981. "I get angry at issues: injustice, bigotry, political issues. My husband is my rock of Gibraltar. I'm very lucky." More Dear Abby Online: For more photos, plus information about Dear Abby's support of gays and lesbians, read Peter Hartlaub 's The Big Event blog at blog.sfgate.com/thebigevent . Secretary wonders about boss' intentions The first Dear Abbey column (note the spelling back then) appeared in The Chronicle on Jan.

9, 1956: DEAR ABBEY: I have never written to a paper for advice before but need help desperately and cannot talk to my family or friends about my problem. I am a private secretary to a well-known executive in the Bay Area. I have been employed by him for five years. You may think this sounds cheap, but we are deeply in love. His wife speaks to him only when she wants money, and he has no respect or affection for her. He has told me repeatedly that I am the woman he loves but we can't consider marriage because it would ruin him financially and socially. In addition to an excellent salary, he has given me an automobile, a fur coat and he pays my rent. When he takes business trips, I always go along. I am not getting any younger, yet I feel one day he will make me his wife. What do you think? CONFIDENT DEAR CONFIDENT: I think your boss is a super salesman! He certainly did a terrific job when he convinced an intelligent girl like you to give up a decent, respectable life of her own to be available when he whistles. Of course he won't marry you. Why should he?

He is getting the whole show for the price of the amusement tax. DEAR ABBEY: I have been going with a man since June. Although there is quite a big difference in our ages, we like each other a lot. He gave me a diamond ring for Christmas. How can I tell if the diamond is real? H.P.L. DEAR H.P.L.: If there is any doubt about whether or not the diamond is real, you'd better find out if the MAN is real! When a girl accepts a ring from a man, it usually means they are engaged to be married. I hope you realize that you are engaged to marry a man you do not fully trust. Any jeweler can answer your question by simply looking at the ring. DEAR ABBEY: Maybe you can suggest something to help my sister. She is married to a real heel. He is 6 feet 3 and weighs 240, and she is 5 feet and weighs 106. He has a terrible temper and frequently knocks the daylights out of her. Their marriage is really a mess. L.L.

DEAR L.L.: I admit your sister is no match for her heavyweight husband, but I've seen smaller gals flatten out bigger guys than this with just one look. If your sister has been letting this walrus slap her around frequently, maybe she likes it. Stay out of their family battles, Chum. When the girl who is taking it on the chin complains, I'll know she needs my suggestions. DEAR ABBEY: I am sweet 16 and truly never have been kissed. I have plenty of dates and the boys seem to enjoy my company, but when it comes time to say good night, all they do is just say "good night." Please tell me how I can become irresistible? HOPEFUL ANN DEAR ANN: If you become "irresistible" at 16, you'll need police protection by the time you reach 20. If you are looking for a goodnight kiss, the likes of which would melt a glacier, it's too early. However, if you want the innocent, customary goodnight kiss, hold your little cheek up, close your eyes and boom-! You're irresistible. Write to Abigail Van Buren in care of The Chronicle.

She will be glad to help you solve your problems. Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicle's pop culture critic. E-mail: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub Latest from the SFGATE homepage: Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page. Pauline Phillips — Dear Abby — in 2001. Fred Prouser / Reuters /Landov Originally published on January 17, 2013 1:52 pm Pauline Phillips, known to millions of advice-seekers around the world as the original "Dear Abby," has died. She was 94. The company that syndicates Dear Abby says on its website that she "died Wednesday ... in Minneapolis after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease." TMZ.com, which broke the news , reminds us that " 'Dear Abby' first appeared in print in 1956 — and eventually grew to a daily readership of 100 million.

[Her] twin sister was advice columnist Ann Landers — who died in 2002 at the age of 83." Phillips used the pen name Abigail Van Buren. She dished out advice in the column for more than 30 years. Her daughter, Jeanne, took over most of the writing in 1987 and officially assumed the "Dear Abby" title in 2000. According to the syndicate, Universal Uclick: "The first 'Dear Abby' column appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle on Jan. 9, 1956, and grew to be syndicated throughout the United States, and subsequently worldwide. The column was first syndicated in 1956. In March 1980, Mrs. Phillips found a home with Universal Press Syndicate, now known as Universal Uclick, the company that still distributes the column today. 'Dear Abby,' written now by Mrs. Phillips' daughter, Jeanne, is the world's most widely syndicated column, having run in 1,400 newspapers with a daily readership of more than 110 million. "When asked what she considered her greatest accomplishment, Mrs.

Phillips was quick to say simply, 'surviving.' " The New York Times writes that "if Damon Runyon and Groucho Marx had gone jointly into the advice business, their column would have read much like Dear Abby's. With her comic and flinty yet fundamentally sympathetic voice, Mrs. Phillips helped wrestle the advice column from its weepy Victorian past into a hard-nosed 20th-century present." As for her pen name, Universal Uclick says: "The name 'Abigail' was taken from the wise woman in the Old Testament and 'Van Buren' was adopted in honor of one of her favorite presidents." Copyright 2013 National Public Radio. To see more, visit 'Dear Abby' Dies; Pauline Phillips Was Adviser To Millions | KUER 'Dear Abby' Dies; Pauline Phillips Was Adviser To Millions Pauline Phillips — Dear Abby — in 2001. Fred Prouser / Reuters /Landov Originally published on January 17, 2013 12:52 pm Pauline Phillips, known to millions of advice-seekers around the world as the original "Dear Abby," has died. She was 94.

The company that syndicates Dear Abby says on its website that she "died Wednesday ... in Minneapolis after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease." TMZ.com, which broke the news , reminds us that " 'Dear Abby' first appeared in print in 1956 — and eventually grew to a daily readership of 100 million. [Her] twin sister was advice columnist Ann Landers — who died in 2002 at the age of 83." Phillips used the pen name Abigail Van Buren. She dished out advice in the column for more than 30 years. Her daughter, Jeanne, took over most of the writing in 1987 and officially assumed the "Dear Abby" title in 2000. According to the syndicate, Universal Uclick: "The first 'Dear Abby' column appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle on Jan. 9, 1956, and grew to be syndicated throughout the United States, and subsequently worldwide. The column was first syndicated in 1956. In March 1980, Mrs.

Phillips found a home with Universal Press Syndicate, now known as Universal Uclick, the company that still distributes the column today. 'Dear Abby,' written now by Mrs. Phillips' daughter, Jeanne, is the world's most widely syndicated column, having run in 1,400 newspapers with a daily readership of more than 110 million. "When asked what she considered her greatest accomplishment, Mrs. Phillips was quick to say simply, 'surviving.' " The New York Times writes that "if Damon Runyon and Groucho Marx had gone jointly into the advice business, their column would have read much like Dear Abby's. With her comic and flinty yet fundamentally sympathetic voice, Mrs. Phillips helped wrestle the advice column from its weepy Victorian past into a hard-nosed 20th-century present." As for her pen name, Universal Uclick says: "The name 'Abigail' was taken from the wise woman in the Old Testament and 'Van Buren' was adopted in honor of one of her favorite presidents." Copyright 2013 National Public Radio.

To see more, visit 'Dear Abby' advice columnist dies at age 94 'Dear Abby' advice columnist dies at age 94 STEVE KARNOWSKI Share View photos FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2001 file photo, Pauline Friedman Phillips, right, the nationally-syndicated advice columnist best known as "Dear Abby," and her daughter Jeanne Phillips, pose after the dedication of a Dear Abby star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. Phillips, who had Alzheimer’s disease, died Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, she was 94. Phillips' column competed for decades with the advice column of Ann Landers, written by her twin sister, Esther Friedman Lederer. Their relationship was stormy in their early adult years, but later they regained the close relationship they had growing up in Sioux City, Iowa. The two columns differed in style. Ann Landers responded to questioners with homey, detailed advice. Abby's replies were often flippant one-liners.

(AP Photo/Reed Saxon) More MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Pauline Friedman Phillips, who as Dear Abby dispensed snappy, sometimes saucy advice on love, marriage and meddling mothers-in-law to millions of newspaper readers around the world and opened the way for the likes of Dr. Ruth, Dr. Phil and Oprah, has died. She was 94. Phillips died Wednesday in Minneapolis after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, said Gene Willis, a publicist for the Universal Uclick syndicate. "My mother leaves very big high heels to fill with a legacy of compassion, commitment and positive social change," her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, who now writes the column, said in a statement. Private funeral services were held Thursday, Willis said. The long-running "Dear Abby" column first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1956. Mother and daughter started sharing the byline in 2000, and Jeanne Phillips took over in 2002, when the family announced Pauline Phillips had Alzheimer's disease. Pauline Phillips wrote under the name Abigail Van Buren.

Her column competed for decades with the advice of Ann Landers, written by her twin sister, Esther Friedman Lederer, who died in 2002. Their relationship was stormy in their early adult years, but they later regained the closeness they had growing up in Sioux City, Iowa. The two columns differed in style. Ann Landers responded to questioners with homey, detailed advice. Abby's replies were often flippant and occasionally risqué one-liners, like some of those collected for her 1981 book "The Best of Dear Abby." Dear Abby: My boyfriend is going to be 20 years old next month. I'd like to give him something nice for his birthday. What do you think he'd like? — Carol Dear Carol: Nevermind what he'd like, give him a tie. Dear Abby: What inspires you most to write? — Ted Dear Ted: The Bureau of Internal Revenue. Dear Abby: I've been going with this girl for a year. How can I get her to say yes? — Don Dear Don: What's the question? Phillips admitted that her advice changed over the years.

When she started writing the column, she was reluctant to advocate divorce: "I always thought that marriage should be forever," she explained. "I found out through my readers that sometimes the best thing they can do is part. If a man or woman is a constant cheater, the situation can be intolerable. Especially if they have children. When kids see parents fighting, or even sniping at each other, I think it is terribly damaging." She willingly expressed views that she realized would bring protests. In a 1998 interview she remarked: "Whenever I say a kind word about gays, I hear from people, and some of them are damn mad. People throw Leviticus, Deuteronomy and other parts of the Bible to me. It doesn't bother me. I've always been compassionate toward gay people." If the letters sounded suicidal, she took a personal approach: "I'll call them. I say, 'This is Abby. How are you feeling?

You sounded awfully low.' And they say, 'You're calling me?' After they start talking, you can suggest that they get professional help." In a time before confessional talk shows and the nothing-is-too-private culture of the Internet, the sisters' columns offered a rare window into Americans' private lives and a forum for discussing marriage, sex and the swiftly changing mores of the 1950s, '60s and '70s. Asked about Viagra, Phillips replied: "It's wonderful. Men who can't perform feel less than manly, and Viagra takes them right off the spot." About working mothers: "I think it's good to have a woman work if she wants to and doesn't leave her children unattended — if she has a reliable person to care for them. Kids still need someone to watch them until they are mature enough to make responsible decisions." One trend Phillips adamantly opposed: children having sex as early as 12 years old. "Kids grow up awfully fast these days," she said.

"You should try to have a good relationship with your kids, no matter what they do." Pauline Esther Friedman, known as Popo, was born on Independence Day 1918 in Sioux City, Iowa, 17 minutes after her identical twin, Esther Pauline (Eppie). Their father was a well-off owner of a movie theater chain. Their mother took care of the home. Both were immigrants from Russia who had fled their native land in 1905 because of the persecution of Jews. "My parents came with nothing. They all came with nothing," Phillips said in a 1986 Associated Press interview. She recalled that her parents always remembered seeing the Statue of Liberty: "It's amazing the impact the lady of the harbor had on them. They always held her dear, all their lives." The twins spent their growing-up years together. They dressed alike, both played the violin and both wrote gossip columns for their high school and college newspapers. They attended Morningside College in Sioux City. Two days before their 21st birthday, they had a double wedding. Pauline married Morton Phillips, a businessman, Esther married Jules Lederer, a business executive and later founder of Budget Rent-a-Car.

The twins' lives diverged as they followed their husbands to different cities. The Phillipses lived in Minneapolis, Eau Claire, Wis., and San Francisco, and had a son and daughter, Edward Jay and Jeanne. Esther lived in Chicago, had a daughter, Margo, and in 1955 got a job writing an advice column. She adopted its existing name, Ann Landers. Pauline, who had been working for philanthropies and the Democratic Party, followed her sister's lead, though she insisted it wasn't the reason for her decision. She arranged for an interview with an editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and presented sample columns, arguing that the paper's lovelorn column was boring. The editors admired her breezy style, and she was hired. Searching for a name for the column, Pauline chose Abigail from the Bible and Van Buren from the eighth American president. Within a year she signed a 10-year contract with the McNaught Syndicate, which spread her column across the country. "I was cocky," she admitted in 1998. "My contemporaries would come to me for advice.

I got that from my mother: the ability to listen and to help other people with their problems. I also got Daddy's sense of humor." Pauline applied for the advice column without notifying her sister, and that reportedly resulted in bad feelings. For a long time they did not speak to each other, but their differences were eventually patched up. In 2001, the twins, then 83, attended the 90th birthday party in Omaha, Neb., of their sister Helen Brodkey. The advice business extended to the second generation of the Friedmans. Not only did Jeanne Phillips take over "Dear Abby," but Esther Lederer's daughter, Margo Howard, wrote an advice column for the online magazine Slate. Aside from the Dear Abby column, which appeared in 1,000 newspapers as far off as Brazil and Thailand, Phillips conducted a radio version of "Dear Abby" from 1963 to 1975 and wrote best-selling books about her life and advice. In her book "The Best of Abby," Phillips commented that her years writing the column "have been fulfilling, exciting and incredibly rewarding. ... My readers have told me that they've learned from me.

But it's the other way around. I've learned from them. Has it been a lot of work? Not really. It's only work if you'd rather be doing something else." ___ 'Dear Abby' Dies; Pauline Phillips Was Adviser To Millions | WKMS 'Dear Abby' Dies; Pauline Phillips Was Adviser To Millions Pauline Phillips — Dear Abby — in 2001. Fred Prouser / Reuters /Landov Originally published on January 17, 2013 1:52 pm Pauline Phillips, known to millions of advice-seekers around the world as the original "Dear Abby," has died. She was 94. The company that syndicates Dear Abby says on its website that she "died Wednesday ... in Minneapolis after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease." TMZ.com, which broke the news , reminds us that " 'Dear Abby' first appeared in print in 1956 — and eventually grew to a daily readership of 100 million. [Her] twin sister was advice columnist Ann Landers — who died in 2002 at the age of 83." Phillips used the pen name Abigail Van Buren.

She dished out advice in the column for more than 30 years. Her daughter, Jeanne, took over most of the writing in 1987 and officially assumed the "Dear Abby" title in 2000. According to the syndicate, Universal Uclick: "The first 'Dear Abby' column appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle on Jan. 9, 1956, and grew to be syndicated throughout the United States, and subsequently worldwide. The column was first syndicated in 1956. In March 1980, Mrs. Phillips found a home with Universal Press Syndicate, now known as Universal Uclick, the company that still distributes the column today. 'Dear Abby,' written now by Mrs. Phillips' daughter, Jeanne, is the world's most widely syndicated column, having run in 1,400 newspapers with a daily readership of more than 110 million. "When asked what she considered her greatest accomplishment, Mrs.

Phillips was quick to say simply, 'surviving.' " The New York Times writes that "if Damon Runyon and Groucho Marx had gone jointly into the advice business, their column would have read much like Dear Abby's. With her comic and flinty yet fundamentally sympathetic voice, Mrs. Phillips helped wrestle the advice column from its weepy Victorian past into a hard-nosed 20th-century present." As for her pen name, Universal Uclick says: "The name 'Abigail' was taken from the wise woman in the Old Testament and 'Van Buren' was adopted in honor of one of her favorite presidents." Copyright 2013 National Public Radio. To see more, visit 'Dear Abby' Struggles With Alzheimer's - ABC News ABC News 'Dear Abby' Struggles With Alzheimer's By DR. TIM JOHNSON Email Never afraid to take on the serious issues, Pauline Phillips — the woman known to the world as "Dear Abby" — was one of the first to make the public aware of the private pain of Alzheimer's disease.

Nearly 25 years later, the irony is not lost on her son, Eddie Phillips, who is quick to pull out advice column written by his mother that appeared on Oct. 23, 1980, under the headline "Memory Disease Can't Be Forgotten." "Dear Abby: About two years ago I began to notice a change in my husband. He became increasingly forgetful and easily confused," Phillips said, reading the letter on Good Morning America. "Have you ever heard of Alzheimer's disease? I feel so helpless — how do others cope with this affliction?" The letter was signed "Desperate in New York." Abby's reply started out with a soothing tone. "Dear Desperate: You are not alone," she wrote. Some 15 years after that letter was printed, Pauline Phillips began showing signs of that same devastating disease. By the mid-1990s, she was already co-writing her column with daughter, Jeanne, and as the illness progressed, that passing of the torch was made complete. The original Dear Abby officially retired in 2002. She lives in Minnetonka, Minn., with her husband of 64 years, Morton Phillips, and she also has caregivers.

"We call them angels because they are who are with her 24/7," Eddie Phillips said. "She watches a lot of television. She loves visitors. She loves to get out. And when she gets out she still wears her Dear Abby sweatshirt and loves to smile and wave and blow kisses." Housewife Becomes Household Name Before she became known to the world as "Dear Abby," Pauline Phillips was a 37-year-old stay-at-home mom with a modest attitude. "I don't pretend to be an authority on journalism or on human relations," Phillips said as her career began. "I just happen to be a very happy, a very healthy, a very lucky young woman with a fascinating hobby." She found fame in 1956 after reading the advice column that ran in the San Francisco Chronicle, and brazenly letting the editors know she could do better: "They gave her a bunch of letters, thinking that, that they would never see her again — and she immediately took all of the letters to my dad's nearby office and whipped out answers and had answers back the same day. That knocked them off their feet," said Eddie Phillips.

Using the pseudonym "Abigail Van Buren," Phillips went from housewife to America's counselor in a career that spanned more than four decades. She counted celebrities, presidents, royalty and even a pope among her millions of fans. Her column was syndicated in more than 1,200 newspapers, and read by 95 million people a day. To letter writers who signed off as "Baffled" and "Ticked Off" and all the millions of others who wrote in, she gave advice on every issue from selfish in-laws to bed-wetting to gun control. "We're talking about things today we never would have dreamed of talking about 25 years ago," Phillips said in an interview that aired Oct. 12, 1982, on Good Morning America. A Sign of Awareness Pauline Phillips has never been told of her Alzheimer's diagnosis — her family and doctors felt hearing the words would be devastating emotionally. But a year and a half ago, a book by Nancy Reagan and an emotional phone call let her son, Eddie, know that his mother understands.

His mother was reading from the book, I Love You, Ronnie, Nancy Reagan's book of love letters between herself and her husband, Ronald Reagan, who now suffers from Alzheimer's. "She began reading to me, having not had that capacity for some time, or that interest," Eddie Phillips said. His mother read the following passage from the book: "No one can really know what it's like unless they travel this path — and there are many right now traveling the same path I am. You know it's a progressive disease and there is no place to go but down, no light at the end of the tunnel. Every day is different, and you get up, put one foot in front of the other and go and love — just love." For Eddie Phillips, it was proof that his mother — though changed by Alzheimer's — was still aware. "I really believe that it was my mom telling me that she understood," he said. "And it was extremely emotional and I didn't want it to end. It was a conversation I shall never ever forget." He said his mother has a strong recollection of she is and who her family is, but the memories fade in and out.

"But we who love her know which memories are especially important to her and the ones that bring her most joy," Eddie Phillips said. "And we focus on those and the result is a very wide smile and laughter on her part." Honoring a Mother As his mother slips further and further away, Eddie Phillips wanted to do something to honor her. A successful businessman in his own right, he and a second, anonymous donor, have given an extraordinary $10 million grant to the Mayo Clinic to create the Abigail Van Buren Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. "We need to recruit a large group of normal elderly individuals who are living in Rochester, Minn., and follow them for the next five, 10, 15 years,to see what happens," said Dr. Ronald Petersen, director of the new center. "From that we'll learn not only who's going to develop Alzheimer's disease in the future, but we'll also derive a feeling for who lives successfully through aging." The study will shed light on the disease, said Dr. Cliff Jack, another member of the research clinic's staff.

"It's only with this sort of longitudinal study that you can test, make a measurement of now and then five years from now, what's happened to the patient, go back and see which measurements were and which measurements weren't particularly useful," Jack said. The ultimate goal is simple, Eddie Phillips said: "To find both a cure and a prevention for Alzheimer's disease and wipe this devastating illness off the map of the world." In 1964, Dear Abby gave some philosophical advice: "The purpose of life is to amount to something and have it make some difference that you lived at all," she said. For Eddie Phillips, there is no question in his mind about his mother's impact. "I believe she made a profound difference in many lives countless times — and if that is the acid test of a good life, she passed with flying colors," he said. If you want to send a letter of encouragement or thanks to Dear Abby, send letters to: letters@avbthankyou.com or A.V.B.

One Main Street SE Suite 210 Minneapolis, MN 55414 To find out more about Alzheimer's Disease, go to the following links: 'Dear Abby' advice columnist dies at age 94 - Story 'Dear Abby' advice columnist dies at age 94 STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press Writer 2:18 PM, Jan 17, 2013 8:12 PM, Jan 17, 2013 Share Article WCPO Photo courtesy of YouTube Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Show Caption Previous Next MINNEAPOLIS - Pauline Friedman Phillips, who as Dear Abby dispensed snappy, sometimes saucy advice on love, marriage and meddling mothers-in-law to millions of newspaper readers around the world and opened the way for the likes of Dr. Ruth, Dr. Phil and Oprah, has died. She was 94. Phillips died Wednesday in Minneapolis after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, said Gene Willis, a publicist for the Universal Uclick syndicate.

"My mother leaves very big high heels to fill with a legacy of compassion, commitment and positive social change," her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, who now writes the column, said in a statement. Private funeral services were held Thursday, Willis said. The long-running "Dear Abby" column first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1956. Mother and daughter started sharing the byline in 2000, and Jeanne Phillips took over in 2002, when the family announced Pauline Phillips had Alzheimer's disease. Pauline Phillips wrote under the name Abigail Van Buren. Her column competed for decades with the advice of Ann Landers, written by her twin sister, Esther Friedman Lederer, who died in 2002. Their relationship was stormy in their early adult years, but they later regained the closeness they had growing up in Sioux City, Iowa. The two columns differed in style. Ann Landers responded to questioners with homey, detailed advice.

Abby's replies were often flippant and occasionally risqué one-liners, like some of those collected for her 1981 book "The Best of Dear Abby." Dear Abby: My boyfriend is going to be 20 years old next month. I'd like to give him something nice for his birthday. What do you think he'd like? - Carol Dear Carol: Nevermind what he'd like, give him a tie. Dear Abby: What inspires you most to write? - Ted Dear Ted: The Bureau of Internal Revenue. Dear Abby: I've been going with this girl for a year. How can I get her to say yes? - Don Dear Don: What's the question? Phillips admitted that her advice changed over the years. When she started writing the column, she was reluctant to advocate divorce: "I always thought that marriage should be forever," she explained. "I found out through my readers that sometimes the best thing they can do is part. If a man or woman is a constant cheater, the situation can be intolerable. Especially if they have children.

When kids see parents fighting, or even sniping at each other, I think it is terribly damaging." She willingly expressed views that she realized would bring protests. In a 1998 interview she remarked: "Whenever I say a kind word about gays, I hear from people, and some of them are damn mad. People throw Leviticus, Deuteronomy and other parts of the Bible to me. It doesn't bother me. I've always been compassionate toward gay people." If the letters sounded suicidal, she took a personal approach: "I'll call them. I say, `This is Abby. How are you feeling? You sounded awfully low.' And they say, `You're calling me?' After they start talking, you can suggest that they get professional help." In a time before confessional talk shows and the nothing-is-too-private culture of the Internet, the sisters' columns offered a rare window into Americans' private lives and a forum for discussing marriage, sex and the swiftly changing mores of the 1950s, `60s and `70s. Asked about Viagra, Phillips replied: "It's wonderful.

Men who can't perform feel less than manly, and Viagra takes them right off the spot." About working mothers: "I think it's good to have a woman work if she wants to and doesn't leave her children unattended - if she has a reliable person to care for them. Kids still need someone to watch them until they are mature enough to make responsible decisions." One trend Phillips adamantly opposed: children having sex as early as 12 years old. "Kids grow up awfully fast these days," she said. "You should try to have a good relationship with your kids, no matter what they do." Pauline Esther Friedman, known as Popo, was born on Independence Day 1918 in Sioux City, Iowa, 17 minutes after her identical twin, Esther Pauline (Eppie). Their father was a well-off owner of a movie theater chain. Their mother took care of the home. Both were immigrants from Russia who had fled their native land in 1905 because of the persecution of Jews. "My parents came with nothing. They all came with nothing," Phillips said in a 1986 Associated Press interview.

She recalled that her parents always remembered seeing the Statue of Liberty: "It's amazing the impact the lady of the harbor had on them. They always held her dear, all their lives." The twins spent their growing-up years together. They dressed alike, both played the violin and both wrote gossip columns for their high school and college newspapers. They attended Morningside College in Sioux City. Two days before their 21st birthday, they had a double wedding. Pauline married Morton Phillips, a businessman, Esther married Jules Lederer, a business executive and later founder of Budget Rent-a-Car. The twins' lives diverged as they followed their husbands to different cities. The Phillipses lived in Minneapolis, Eau Claire, Wis., and San Francisco, and had a son and daughter, Edward Jay and Jeanne. Esther lived in Chicago, had a daughter, Margo, and in 1955 got a job writing an advice column. She adopted its existing name, Ann Landers. Pauline, who had been working for philanthropies and the Democratic Party, followed her sister's lead, though she insisted it wasn't the reason for her decision.

She arranged for an interview with an editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and presented sample columns, arguing that the paper's lovelorn column was boring. The editors admired her breezy style, and she was hired. Searching for a name for the column, Pauline chose Abigail from the Bible and Van Buren from the eighth American president. Within a year she signed a 10-year contract with the McNaught Syndicate, which spread her column across the country. "I was cocky," she admitted in 1998. "My contemporaries would come to me for advice. I got that from my mother: the ability to listen and to help other people with their problems. I also got Daddy's sense of humor." Pauline applied for the advice column without notifying her sister, and that reportedly resulted in bad feelings. For a long time they did not speak to each other, but their differences were eventually patched up. In 2001, the twins, then 83, attended the 90th birthday party in Omaha, Neb., of their sister Helen Brodkey. The advice business extended to the second generation of the Friedmans.

Not only did Jeanne Phillips take over "Dear Abby," but Esther Lederer's daughter, Margo Howard, wrote an advice column for the online magazine Slate. Aside from the Dear Abby column, which appeared in 1,000 newspapers as far off as Brazil and Thailand, Phillips conducted a radio version of "Dear Abby" from 1963 to 1975 and wrote best-selling books about her life and advice. In her book "The Best of Abby," Phillips commented that her years writing the column "have been fulfilling, exciting and incredibly rewarding. ... My readers have told me that they've learned from me. But it's the other way around. I've learned from them. Has it been a lot of work? Not really. It's only work if you'd rather be doing something else." --- --- Associated Press Writer Bob Thomas in Los Angeles contributed to this report. Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

How Dear Abby column started at The Chronicle - SFGate How Dear Abby column started at The Chronicle TODAY'S EXTRA: Her column of sage advice started at The Chronicle By Peter Hartlaub , San Francisco Chronicle Published 4:00 am, Saturday, January 24, 2009 Pauline Phillips walked into the Chronicle building 53 years ago this month with almost no chance of getting the advice column job she was seeking. The newspaper already had the position filled, and Phillips had recently been rejected by the San Mateo Times , a much smaller paper. But editor Stanleigh Arnold believed in a meritocracy, offering Phillips the chance to rewrite the answers given by his current advice columnist to see whether Phillips could do a better job. Phillips walked a few blocks away to her husband's office, kicked his secretary out of her chair and pounded out the answers in a couple of hours. "By the time she got back to Hillsborough, that's where she was living at the time, they had already called three times," remembers Jeanne Phillips, Pauline's daughter and the current Dear Abby .

"They wanted to hire her." Pauline moved back to her native Minnesota in the early 1960s, where she lives today, and is being treated for Alzheimer's disease. Her daughter, who helped her mother from the early years of the column and publicly took over in 2002, is a Los Angeles resident. But both Abigail Van Burens (their pen name) kept a piece of San Francisco in their hearts. Pauline and Jeanne Phillips haven't been afraid to embrace progressive causes - sometimes long before they were popular. Pauline Phillips referred a distraught parent to Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays in the 1980s, and Jeanne has maintained a high-profile stance in favor of gay marriage . Now the column appears in about 1,400 newspapers worldwide, and Dear Abby receives more than 10,000 letters a week. But Dear Abby never forgot where she came from - and neither have we. Her first column Jan. 9, 1956 The first Dear Abbey column (note the spelling back then) appeared in The Chronicle on Jan.

9, 1956: DEAR ABBEY: I have never written to a paper for advice before but need help desperately and cannot talk to my family or friends about my problem. I am a private secretary to a well-known executive in the Bay Area. I have been employed by him for five years. You may think this sounds cheap, but we are deeply in love. His wife speaks to him only when she wants money, and he has no respect or affection for her. He has told me repeatedly that I am the woman he loves but we can't consider marriage because it would ruin him financially and socially. In addition to an excellent salary, he has given me an automobile, a fur coat and he pays my rent. When he takes business trips, I always go along. I am not getting any younger, yet I feel one day he will make me his wife. What do you think? CONFIDENT DEAR CONFIDENT: I think your boss is a super salesman! He certainly did a terrific job when he convinced an intelligent girl like you to give up a decent, respectable life of her own to be available when he whistles. Of course he won't marry you. Why should he?

He is getting the whole show for the price of the amusement tax. DEAR ABBEY: I have been going with a man since June. Although there is quite a big difference in our ages, we like each other a lot. He gave me a diamond ring for Christmas. How can I tell if the diamond is real? H.P.L. DEAR H.P.L.: If there is any doubt about whether or not the diamond is real, you'd better find out if the MAN is real! When a girl accepts a ring from a man, it usually means they are engaged to be married. I hope you realize that you are engaged to marry a man you do not fully trust. Any jeweler can answer your question by simply looking at the ring. DEAR ABBEY: Maybe you can suggest something to help my sister. She is married to a real heel. He is 6 feet 3 and weighs 240, and she is 5 feet and weighs 106. He has a terrible temper and frequently knocks the daylights out of her. Their marriage is really a mess. L.L.

DEAR L.L.: I admit your sister is no match for her heavyweight husband, but I've seen smaller gals flatten out bigger guys than this with just one look. If your sister has been letting this walrus slap her around frequently, maybe she likes it. Stay out of their family battles, Chum. When the girl who is taking it on the chin complains, I'll know she needs my suggestions. DEAR ABBEY: I am sweet 16 and truly never have been kissed. I have plenty of dates and the boys seem to enjoy my company, but when it comes time to say good night, all they do is just say "good night." Please tell me how I can become irresistible? HOPEFUL ANN DEAR ANN: If you become "irresistible" at 16, you'll need police protection by the time you reach 20. If you are looking for a goodnight kiss, the likes of which would melt a glacier, it's too early. However, if you want the innocent, customary goodnight kiss, hold your little cheek up, close your eyes and boom - ! You're irresistible. Write to Abigail Van Buren in care of The Chronicle.

She will be glad to help you solve your problems. Feb. 1, 1966 DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been married for 16 years, and I now find myself in the most ridiculous situation imaginable. He is involved with another woman, and he can't make up his mind which one of us he wants. ... Am I old-fashioned to want my husband all to myself, or is this something new with men these days? ONLY HIS WIFE DEAR ONLY: You're not old-fashioned - and it's nothing new. It's known as having one's cake and eating it, too. Don't let him get away with this game. Tell him you are not about to go "halfsies" with anyone, so he'd better start behaving like a husband - yours! July 16, 1973 DEAR ABBY: How would you answer a 4-year-old, born out of wedlock, when she asks, "Why don't I have a daddy?" STUMPED DEAR STUMPED: Tell her everyone has a daddy, but not all daddies live with their families, and hers does not. No need to go into any explanation.

At her age, she wouldn't understand anyway. Just answer all questions as they arise, one at a time - and honestly. Dec. 7, 1987 DEAR ABBY: I am a 54-year-old widow. ... About a year ago, I met a man 15 years younger than me. ... He has never introduced me to any of his friends or family members. He met my family and friends a long time ago. He seems to enjoy my company, but ... I am beginning to think he wants me for just one thing (a bed partner). Please tell me what to do. FEELING USED DEAR FEELING USED: If you want to find out if he wants you for just "one thing" - quit making that "one thing" available and see how long he hangs around. April 26, 1991 DEAR ABBY: I am a young man who has let my hair grow very long, down to my shoulders. It's always shampooed and looks pretty, but some people call me "Miss." How can I let them know that I am a man? ELLIS

Question: Originally started in 1956 by Pauline Phillips, what advice column is now written by her daughter, Jeanne Phillips?
Answer: Dear Abby