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Esther "Eppie" Pauline Friedman Lederer, better known as Ann Landers (July 4, 1918 – June 22, 2002), was best known for writing the famous syndicated advice column "Ann Landers." For some 45 years, it was a regular feature in many newspapers across North America. In it, people wrote the columnist for advice and she answered. Lederer's writing style was direct, and often critical. She would often upbraid a letter-writer with the quip, "Watch it, bub!" Her stated opinions often seemed customized to appeal to her predominantly female readership.

Contents 1 The column 2 Life 3 Controversies 3.1 Pope John Paul II insult 3.2 Recycled columns 3.3 Mythology 4 See also 5 Further reading 6 References

The original "Ann Landers" was Ruth Crowley, a Chicago nurse who wrote the syndicated column for 26 newspapers from 1942 until her death (at age 48) on July 20, 1955. Lederer won a contest to become the new writer of the column, debuting on October 16, 1955. The column opened with a letter from "Non-Eligible Bachelor", who despaired of getting married. Her advice was "You're a big boy now... don't let spite ruin your life." ^[1]. Landers went on to advise thousands of other readers over the next several decades. Eventually, she became owner of the copyright. She chose not to have a different writer continue the column after her death; it ceased publication when the few weeks' worth of material she had sent out before her death were published. ^[2]

Ann Landers sometimes expressed unpopular opinions in her column. For instance, she repeatedly favored the legalization of prostitution.^[3]

The Ann Landers column has since been replaced by Annie's Mailbox, a similar feature written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, the longtime editors of Lederer's old column.

Her daughter, Margo Howard, wrote an advice column in the 1990s as Dear Prudence, and currently pens the advice column Dear Margo.

Eppie was an identical twin: her sister, Pauline Esther Friedman Phillips, who was 17 minutes younger than Eppie, wrote the Dear Abby column as Abigail Van Buren. As children, they grew up in Sioux City, Iowa, the daughters of Russian Jewish emigrants, and went by the nicknames "Eppie" and "Popo", respectively. Both sisters are alumnae of Morningside College and both wrote for the college newspaper. They were fond then of each other and even had a joint wedding ceremony in 1939 at the age of 21.

Eppie was married to Julius Lederer, a business executive. Lederers' home for many years was in Chicago, where they owned a huge, well-furnished apartment. Eppie often said that she exercised regularly by walking the length of her apartment several times a day.

In March 1940, she gave birth to her first and only child, Margo. Four years later, in 1944, Rebecca Friedman - Landers' and Pauline's mother - died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 56. When Rebecca died, Julius had been conscripted for the war and Landers and Margo were living with her parents, the Friedmans. Julius and Eppie divorced in 1975. In her column of July 1, 1975, Eppie wrote, "The sad, incredible fact is, that after 36 years of marriage [my husband] Julius and I are being divorced." She received 30,000 sympathetic letters ".^[4]

As competing columnists, the twin sisters did not have a happy relationship. They publicly reconciled in 1964 although it seems that the acrimony persisted. ^[5] Just a few years before Eppie's death, they were not on speaking terms; it is said that they reconciled before her death, although that seems questionable in view of the fact that Pauline (Abby) was and is suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Daughter, Margo, was formerly married to actor Ken Howard, and kept her last name, Howard, professionally. She has three children, and writes an advice column, Dear Margo, for Yahoo! News.

A collection of correspondence between Eppie and Margo was published after her death.

In good health almost all her life, Eppie died of multiple myeloma in 2002 at the age of 83. Ex-husband Julius Lederer died on January 21, 1999). After her death, Dan Savage, author of the salacious sex column Savage Love and editor of The Stranger, bought her desk.

In 2002, the Chicago City Council passed a two-page resolution to honor Eppie Lederer for epitomizing Chicago "with her strong opinion, her sage advice, her impeccable manners and quick wit" and announcing that a street sign, Ann "Eppie" Landers Way, would be installed at the corner of North Michigan Avenue from East Illinois Street, in front of the Chicago Tribune Tower, her home paper since 1987.

In 1995, Landers got into hot water when she commented in New Yorker about Pope John Paul II: "He has a sweet sense of humor. Of course, he's a Polack. They're very anti-women." Polish-Americans responded with outrage to the slur. Landers issued a formal apology, but refused to comment further. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel canceled her column after the incident. Her attitude towards ethnic sensibilities appeared hypocritical, given that in that same article she complained that President John F. Kennedy's father, Joe Kennedy Sr., was "anti-Semitic".

During 1982, Barbara Sandken, a part-time reporter for the Pontiac (Illinois) Daily Leader, discovered that some of the Ann Landers columns were recycled, in that they were rewrites of older columns. Sandken had been assigned the job of compiling "25 years ago in the Leader" columns, and recognized a letter in an older paper as being similar to one she had read more recently. Sandken's story was used by the AP, which published the story nationwide on May 3, 1982. Landers apologized in her column and pledged to stop the practice.

Sibling Rivalry by John Byers found at http://www.oneforthetable.com/oftt/articles/sibling-rivalry.html

Every Christmas I used to cook a pecan pie from a recipe

I found in one of Ann Landers holiday columns sometime in the sixties. Since I was thinking of making it again this year, I was thrilled to learn that Dear Abby also had a pecan pie recipe. Hoping to combine recipes to create my own distinctive version of the dessert, I got a copy of each.

After studying them carefully, here are the only differences that I could find: Ann tells us to use white corn syrup; Abby suggests using light corn syrup. Although both women's recipes call for a cup of dark brown sugar, only Abby wants us to make sure the cup is firmly packed. Ann tells us to use a pinch of salt and a dash of vanilla; Abby, clearly wanting to leave nothing to chance, recommends using 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of vanilla. Otherwise, the recipes are exactly the same.

Since neither women, to the best of my knowledge, ever thanked the other for teaching her how to make what I consider a near-perfect pecan pie, I have decided that their dueling recipes prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that, no matter how famous you become, sibling rivalry never dies...

Ann Landers' Pecan Pie 1 Cup White Corn Syrup 1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar 1/3 Cup Melted Butter 1 Cup Pecans (heaping Cup) 3 Eggs, Beaten Dash of Vanilla Pinch of Salt

Mix ingredients well. Pour into unbaked 9" pastry shell. Bake at 350° F for 45-50 minutes.

Dear Abby's Pecan Pie 9-inch unbaked pie crust 1 cup light corn syrup 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar 3 eggs, slightly beaten 1/3 cup butter, melted ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 heaping cup pecan halves

1. Heat oven to 350° F.

2. In a large bowl, combine corn syrup, sugar, eggs, butter, salt and vanilla; mix well. Pour into unbaked pie crust; sprinkle with pecan halves.

Ann Landers wrote in a 1995 column, "In recent years, there have been reports of people with twisted minds putting razor blades and poison in taffy apples and Halloween candy. It is no longer safe to let your child eat treats that come from strangers." The vague warning has been criticised for causing fear unnecessarily, as there are no documented cases of children receiving poisoned candy during door-to-door trick-or-treating[1]. Additionally, this rumor has been known for decades.

• Pauline Phillips
• Poisoned candy scare
• Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation

• Aronson, Virginia. Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren. Women of achievement. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2000. ISBN 0791052974. (children's book).
• Howard, Margo. Eppie: The Story of Ann Landers. New York: Putnam, 1982. ISBN 0399126880.
• Landers, Ann, and Margo Howard. A Life in Letters: Ann Landers' Letters to Her Only Child. New York, NY: Warner Books, 2003. ISBN 0446532711.
• Pottker, Janice, and Bob Speziale. Dear Ann, Dear Abby: The Unauthorized Biography of Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1987. ISBN 0396089062.

1. ^ "Ann Landers", The Post-Register (Idaho Falls), October 16, 1955, pB-2
2. ^ Advice for the Lonely Hearts Time, January 19, 1981. Accessed online May 24, 2007.
3. ^ http://www.sexwork.com/subcontents/annlanders.html
4. ^ Ted Kennedy: The Dogged Achiever, Time, April 14, 2006. Accessed online May 6, 2007.
5. ^ Ann Landers (1918-2002) by Robin Judd, Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed online June 21, 2007.