Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Abigail Van Buren - The Best of Dear Abby

23. The Best of Dear Abby by Abigail Van Buren (1981)
Length: 252 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Started: 19 March 2013
Finished: 20 March 2013
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 31 January 2013
Why do I have it? I like non-fiction and Abigail Van Buren is a new author for me.

Pauline Esther Phillips - also known as Abigail Van Buren - was an advice columnist and radio show host who began writing her 'Dear Abby' advice column in 1956. During her decades writing the column, it became the most widely-syndicated newspaper column in the world, syndicated in 1,400 newspapers around the world with 110 millions readers. Pauline's twin sister, Esther Pauline Lederer - who took over writing the 'Ask Ann Landers' advice column after the death of Ruth Crowley, the first 'Ann Landers' in 1955 - became estranged from Pauline for a long time, after Pauline introduced 'Dear Abby' a few months after Esther began writing 'Ask Ann Landers'. 

Although the sisters publicly reconciled in 1964, acrimony still existed between them until just before Esther's death from blood cancer in June of 2002. The Best of Dear Abby by Abigail Van Buren was actually one of six books written by the popular advice columnist throughout her lifetime. This book is a compilation of the most provocative questions and the wisest and wittiest answers to appear in 'Dear Abby's 33 years of syndication. I give this book an A+!

Abigail Van Buren passed away on January 16, 2013 at the age of 94. She had been battling Alzheimer's Disease for many years. Although her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, had been co-writing the column with Pauline from 1987, Jeanne assumed all writing responsibilities of 'Dear Abby' in 2002 after Pauline was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. 

A+! - (96-100%)   

 Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

2 comments:

  1. Rosefire, that is very interesting about the sisters! Wow 94 years old. I had no idea she was still alive that long! I hadn't thought about Abby or Ann in ages then my 88 year old neighbor said the other day she never misses reading that in the paper.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Peggy Ann,
    Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and commenting! :)

    ReplyDelete

Hello and welcome to my blog. I'm a newbie as far as book blogging goes, having been blogging at my daughter's blog for only about two and a half years. Now it's time for me to get my feet wet on my own. Please be gentle with this blogger. Love to hear from you all. Have a great day! :)