Posted on 01/17/2013 3:05:27 PM PST by Borges
Pauline Phillips, better known to millions of newspaper readers as the original Dear Abby advice columnist, has died after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease, her family said Thursday.
She died Wednesday in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at age 94. Phillips' columns were published in an era when newspaper readers began to prize straight-talking, pithy advice about marriages, children, jobs -- just about anything that troubled people.
Phillips wrote under the pen name of Abigail Van Buren, shortened to "Dear Abby" in newspapers. "Abigail" was taken from the wise woman in the Old Testament and "Van Buren" was one of her favorite presidents.
The first Dear Abby column appeared in 1956, and Phillips solely wrote the advice feature until 2000, when she and daughter Jeanne began sharing the byline.
Jeanne Phillips took the column over full time in August 2002, when the family announced that Pauline Phillips had Alzheimer's.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Dear Abby, Dear Abby ... My feet are too long My hair's falling out and my rights are all wrong My friends they all tell me that I've no friends at all Won't you write me a letter, Won't you give me a call Signed Bewildered Bewildered, Bewildered... Chorus: You have no complaint You are what your are and you ain't what you ain't So listen up Buster, and listen up good Stop wishing for bad luck and knocking on wood Dear Abby, Dear Abby... My fountain pen leaks My wife hollers at me and my kids are all freaks Every side I get up on is the wrong side of bed If it weren't so expensive I'd wish I were dead Signed Unhappy Unhappy, Unhappy... Repeat Chorus Dear Abby, Dear Abby... You won't believe this But my stomach makes noises whenever I kiss My girlfriend tells me It's all in my head But my stomach tells me to write you instead Signed Noise-maker Noise-maker, Noise-maker Repeat Chorus Dear Abby, Dear Abby... Well I never thought That me and my girlfriend would ever get caught We were sitting in the back seat just shooting the breeze With her hair up in curlers and her pants to her knees Signed Just Married Just Married, Just Married... Repeat Chorus
Dear Abbey,
How come you don’t answer my letters anymore? Huh?
Signed,
Frustrated
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