Abigail Van Buren, Dear Abby Dies

She was a sound voice for many scorned lovers, troubled youth and those troubled by in-laws.  Advice columnist, Dear Abby also known as Abigail van Buren has died at the age of  94.  Did you know her real name?

Abigail van Buren was her pen name, in real life she was Pauline Phillips, maiden name Friedman.  She began writing the column in 1956 and continued until the onset of alzheimers in 1987.  Her daughter, Jeanne then co-wrote the column with her mother until 2002 when Jeanne took over all the duties, including the pen name, Abigail Van Buren.

Phillips' column competed for decades with the advice column of Ann Landers, written by her twin sister, Esther Friedman Lederer.  The two columns differed in style. Ann Landers responded to questioners with homey, detailed advice. Abby's replies were often flippant one-liners. She willingly expressed views that she realized would bring protests. "

Top-10.com has posted the top Dear Abby Quotes.  Here's a couple of them

• Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age. Nothing does -- except wrinkles. It's true, some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place.
• Fear less, hope more. Eat less, chew more. Talk less, say more. Hate less, love more, and never underestimate the power of forgiveness.

My personal favorite was from man who asked Abby if she knew the best way to find out about his family's past.  She replied "run for public office."

SOURCE: Wikipedia and MSNBC