Pauline Phillips

Pauline Esther Phillips (née Friedman; July 4, 1918 – January 16, 2013), also known as Abigail Van Buren, was an American advice columnist and radio show host who began the well-known Dear Abby newspaper column in 1956. It became the most widely syndicated newspaper column in the world, syndicated in 1,400 newspapers with 110 million readers.

From 1963 to 1975, Phillips also hosted a daily Dear Abby program on CBS Radio. TV anchorwoman Diane Sawyer calls her the "pioneering queen of salty advice". She was also the paternal stepgrandmother of U.S. Congressman Dean Phillips.

Early life Pauline Friedman, nicknamed "Popo", was born in Sioux City, Iowa, to Russian Jewish immigrants Rebecca (née Rushall) and Abraham B. Friedman, owner of a chain of movie theaters. She was the youngest of four sisters and grew up in Sioux City. Her identical twin was Esther Pauline Friedman (married name Lederer), nicknamed “Eppie”. (Her sister Eppie Lederer was columnist Ann Landers.) in Sioux City. She then studied journalism and psychology at Morningside College, where she and her twin sister wrote a gossip column in the school newspaper. The column was called "The Campus Rat", and they used the pen name "PE-EP", inspired by their names Pauline Esther and Esther Pauline. Both sisters were married in a double wedding ceremony on July 2, 1939, two days before their 21st birthday. Pauline married Morton Phillips of Minneapolis, and had son Edward and daughter Jeanne.

She went by the pen name Abigail Van Buren, combining the Old Testament prophetess from 1 Samuel Her twin sister was the author of the Ann Landers column, and the competition created acrimony between them for many years. In 1956, Phillips offered her column to the Sioux City Journal at a reduced price, provided that the paper refuse to print her sister's column. They became "the most widely read and most quoted women in the world" in 1958, according to Life magazine.

Writing style Newspapers had included gossip and personal columnists for more than a century, but the two sisters added "something special", according to Life, in that they were the first to publish letters and replies covering a wide range of personal problems, replying with "vaudeville punch lines" rooted in common sense.

Phillips supported gay rights, and season 1, episode 8 of the podcast Making Gay History is about her.

Both Phillips and her sister enjoyed socializing with celebrities, and because of their fame, celebrities liked being seen with them. Among Phillips' friends soon after she began her column were politicians, including Senators Hubert Humphrey and Herbert Lehman; and entertainers, including Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. She said that writing is "only work if you'd rather be doing something else."

Death Phillips died on January 16, 2013, at age 94, after battling Alzheimer's for 11 years. She was survived by her husband of 73 years, Morton Phillips, daughter Jeanne Phillips, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Her son, Edward, had died two years prior.