Pauline Phillips

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Pauline Phillips 1961

Pauline Esther Phillips , née Friedman (born July 4, 1918 in Sioux City , Iowa , † January 16, 2013 in Minneapolis ), known under the pseudonym Abigail Van Buren , was an American columnist and radio presenter whose life support column was published in over 1,400 newspapers under the Title Dear Abby . Its readership is estimated at over 100 million.

Pauline Esther and her identical twin sister Esther Pauline answered letters to the editor in US newspapers as life guides from the mid-1950s and were the most widely read authors in the USA in 1960. The column was printed in up to 1,400 newspapers, reaching more readers than any other column of its time. Pauline Phillips operated under the stage name Abigail Van Buren. Your column was called Dear Abby. that of her sister Esther Ask Ann Landers. From 1963 to 1975 Phillips hosted the radio show Dear Abby daily . on CBS .

Life

Pauline Friedman (nickname "Po-po") was born to Jewish Russian immigrants in Sioux City. Her mother was Rebecca Friedman (née Rushall). Her father, Abraham B. Friedman, ran a chain of movie theaters.

“I was very confident. Peers came up to me for advice. I inherited that from my mother, the ability to listen and help other people with their problems. I got my sense of humor from my father. "
Pauline's twin sister, columnist Ann Landers in 1961

Pauline and her twin sister both studied journalism and psychology and together wrote a gossip column for the student newspaper. Both played the violin. Both married in a double wedding. With her husband, Morton Phillips of Minneapolis , Pauline had two children, Edward Jay Phillips and Jeanne Phillips .

At the age of 37, the family moved to the San Francisco area. Phillips called the local newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle , claiming that he could write better advisory texts than what she read in that paper. She presented her modest qualification papers to the editor Stanleigh "Auk" Arnold, who gave her a few letters to the editor, with the suggestion that answers should be formulated within a week. Pauline Phillips came back to the office an hour and a half after the meeting and was hired straight away.

She chose her stage name Abigail Van Buren after the prophetess Abigail in the Old Testament , to whom David says:

"Blessed are your advice, and blessed are you."

Because of the successful application, there was a lifelong resentment between the twin sisters. Her sister accused her of not consulting with her. She began to write an advice column herself and in 1956 tried to push Pauline out of some newspapers by dumping prices. Only in 1964 was there an official reconciliation. In 1958, the two were the most widely read authors in the United States.

Both columnists broke new journalistic territory because they took up a wide range of questions from readers and answered them with a sharp pen. In the early years, the authors received up to 9,000 letters a week. In its obituary for Pauline Phillips, the New York Times describes the style and variety of topics as modern. They would have left the tearful smell of the Victorian age of the previous columnists behind and served the sober 20th century. Phillips was considered liberal in their publications, but conservative in private circles. When asked by a reader whether her daughter-in-law's 4 kg baby was not too heavy for a premature baby, because her son had only married five months ago, Phillips replied:

“The baby came just right. The wedding was too late. Forget it."

Both sisters were known for their concise and direct answers.

Reader question: “Dear Abby! What cure is there for a man who has been married for 33 years and who still cannot keep his hands off other women? "
Answer: "Rigor mortis" (rigor mortis)
Reader question: “Dear Abby! Which is better: go to the school ball with a creep or stay at home? "
Answer: “Go with the creep, and look at the fresh plants.” (Go with the creep, and look over the crop.)

Phillips was an honorary member of Women in Communications , the American College of Psychiatrists, and the National Council of Jewish Women . She wrote six books: Dear Abby , Dear Teenager , Dear Abby on Marriage , Where Were You When President Kennedy was Shot? The Dear Abby Wedding Planner and The Best of Dear Abby . The Dear Abby Show aired on CBS for over 12 years.

Hollywood Walk of Fame stone in memory of Phillips' radio broadcast

In 2002, Phillips was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease , so her daughter Jeanne continued the Dear Abby column. She had been a co-author since 1987. Pauline Phillips died on January 16, 2013 at the age of 94.

Books about Dear Abby

  • Virginia Aronson: Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren . Women of Achievement. Chelsea House Publishers, Philadelphia 2000, ISBN 0-7910-5297-4 . (English children's book)
  • Janice Pottker, Bob Speziale: Dear Ann, Dear Abby: The Unauthorized Biography of Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren . Dodd, Mead, New York 1987, ISBN 0-396-08906-2 .

Dear Abby books

  • Dear Abby . Illustrated by Carl Rose. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ about 1958.
  • Dear teen-ager . Illustrated by Roy Doty. B. Geis Associates; Distribution: Random House, New York around 1959.
  • Dear Abby on marriage . McGraw-Hill, New York around 1962.
  • The Best of Dear Abby . Andrews and McMeel, Kansas City 1981, ISBN 0-8362-7907-7 .
  • Dear Abby on planning your wedding . Andrews and McMeel, Kansas City, Mon. 1988, ISBN 0-8362-7943-3 .
  • Where were you when President Kennedy was shot ?: memories and tributes to a slain president as told to Dear Abby . Andrews and McMeel, Kansas City, Mon. 1993, ISBN 0-8362-6246-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Esther "Eppie" Lederer (* July 4, 1918, † June 22, 2002)
  2. ↑ Pauline Phillips, longtime Dear Abby advice columnist, dies at 94. In: CNN News. 17th January 2013.
  3. ↑ The television presenter Diane Sawyer called Phillips a "royal pioneer of peppered life advice" (pioneering queen of salty advice).
  4. ↑ "'Dear Abby' Columnist, Pauline Phillips, Dies at Age 94," ABC News, Jan. 17, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Pauline Phillips, Flinty Adviser to Millions as Dear Abby, this at 94" , New York Times , January 17, 2013.
  6. ^ A b Johnson, Dr. Tim: 'Dear Abby' Struggles With Alzheimer's. ABC News, February 12, 2010, accessed September 26, 2010 .
  7. ↑ video interview: "'Dear Abby' talks about her big break" , CNN
  8. ↑ Robin Judd: Ann Landers biography. Jewish Virtual Library, accessed October 16, 2013 .
  9. ↑ Life Magazin, April 7, 1958, pp. 102-112.
  10. ↑ Life Magazin, April 7, 1958, pp. 102-112.
  11. ↑ Video interview: "Remembering Pauline Phillips, 'Dear Abby'" , PBS Newshour interview with Amy Dickinson , January 17, 2013.
  12. ↑ Universal Press Syndicate historical files.
  13. ↑ Luchina Fisher: 'Dear Abby' Advice Columnist Dies. ABC News Blogs, accessed January 17, 2013 .
  14. ↑ Dear Abby creator has Alzheimer's, family announces. In: Chicago Tribune. August 7, 2002, accessed September 26, 2010 .
personal data
SURNAME Phillips, Pauline
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Van Buren, Abigail; Dear Abby
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American columnist
DATE OF BIRTH 4th July 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Sioux City
DATE OF DEATH January 16, 2013
Place of death Minneapolis