Advice columnist Pauline Phillips died in Minneapolis Wednesday at age 94. Her “Dear Abby” column began in 1956 and appeared in hundreds of newspapers around the world, covering a wide variety of personal topics. The column, still in print and with its own website, was taken over by Mrs. Phillips’s daughter Jeanne Phillips in 2000. Known for her sharp, sometimes risque replies as well as for her “much-publicized professional rivalry with her identical twin sister advice columnist Ann Landers”, Pauline’s column had a huge influence on American popular culture. Today’s NYT article discusses her early years, her competitiveness with her sister, and includes some of her more well-known advice:
Dear Abby: My wife sleeps in the raw. Then she showers, brushes her teeth and fixes our breakfast — still in the buff. We’re newlyweds and there are just the two of us, so I suppose there’s really nothing wrong with it. What do you think? — Ed
Dear Ed: It’s O.K. with me. But tell her to put on an apron when she’s frying bacon.
Laura