Dear Abby/Dear Ann Landers

Abby got the idea to apply for an advice columnist job in California after Ann got hers in Chicago. Lots of strained relations thereafter.

The two who can't stand each other are Abby's daughter Jeanne (who now writes Dear Abby) and Ann's daughter Margo (who wrote Dear Prudence for Slate). Margo said that Jeanne's slobbery tribute to "Aunt Eppie" after Ann died was pure hokum and that they hadn't spoken in years. She also said that "Aunt Eppie" thought Jeanne's version of Dear Abby to be "quite subpar."

Margo also implied that Jeanne used her mother's death to try to get Dear Abby squeezed into the papers that carried Ann Landers.

R1 Margo was Ann Landers' only child and by all accounts a spoiled brat and not a very nice person at times. Ann Landers would not allow Margo to take over her column after she died which speaks volumes. I always though that Ann Landers was a tad outspoken, somewhat neurotic, and certainly homophobic for a long time (unlike Dear Abby who was always much kinder to gays). Margo is a chip off the old block and not my cup of tea.

It was Ann Landers who got into trouble for duplicating columns/letters and there was quite an uproar about it at the time.

Ann Landers' husband divorced her and she never got married again. She struck me as headstrong and stubborn and I suspect that she would be difficult to live with.

Super weird that two sisters end up doing the exact same obscure job to equal acclaim.

#feud

One was a bitch.

I was an intern in DC when Hubert Humphrey died &?his widow was appointed to replace him. I stood on a long line to see the new senator sworn in. The twin who lived in Minnesota, bedecked in a full-length mink coat, observed the long lines, &, having none of that, could be heard whispering to her husband, “Tell them who we are.”

I never knew about this. Sounds like it could be catty, retro and campy. R5 is on to something.

Ryan Murphy, do you want to give Feud another go? We know you'll likely fuck it up, but just consider it anyway.

R2 According to Margo she turned down her mother's offer to continue the column and that is why Ann Landers/Eppie decreed the byline would be discontinued after her death.

Where did you hear that Ann/Eppie didn't want her to continue?

In one of the columns, a 15-year-old said her mother said she was too young for a strapless gown. She received this response. "Try it on. If it doesn't fall down, you're old enough."'

They both always defended gays.

I wonder if their mother fueled the feud between the daughters like Lillian did with Olivia D and Joan F?

I wonder if they ever made up any of their questions.

There was already a TV movie about them.

I think their story would make a great musical. Certainly better than "War Paint," about Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden.

Fun fact: Margo was married to actor Ken Howard. I think they may have met when Howsrd was touring with Equus and it stopped for awhile in Chicago (where I saw it).

Princess Margaret was introduced to Ann Landers in a receiving line somewhere, and after looking her up-and-down, asked, "Are you a jew?" When the answer came back in the affirmative, Margaret, who hated Jews, turned on her heels and walked away. Cunt.

I find it interesting that both sisters had what I would describe as "marked speech impediments". Either it was some sort of congenital thing, or they both underwent some sort of dental procedure that damaged their speech apparatuses.

Apparently, at one point, Natalie Portman was going to do a vanity project about them, both directing and playing both sisters. I'm sure, just like Barbra, she would also produce, sing and sew the costumes.

I think their speech was a strong Iowa accent, not an impediment.

I remember when one of the two was asked about a woman, a gym teacher, who lived in this reader’s apartment building. She was never seen in the company of men, only with other women. Prompting the writer’s question, “Could this woman be Lebanese?” The one-word response? “Yes.”

r19 is correct: that's a very strong and pronounced Iowa accent Ann is speaking with at r17 (both the sisters grew up in Sioux City, IA). I had an aunt from Waterloo, IA who spoke the same way. It's a weird accent that almost sounds like you're missing a dental plate. Mary Gross used to do a funny impression of it on SNL (see link)--Nora Dunn and Jane Curtin also used to do her too.

Dear Abby, or Abigail van Buren (in real life Pauline, or "Popo," Lederer) was the one who settled in Minneapolis; Ann Landers (Esther, or "Eppie" Lederer) settled in Chicago. Both sisters became VERY wealthy from their jobs. Ann was the funnier of the two; Abby was the more sensible. Both sisters were originally uptight and censorious towards homosexuality and divorce, and then they both eased up enormously as they got older and became much more liberal.

I don't think Pauline's daughter has been bad as Dear Abby, but she's not as popular now as Ask Amy or Carolyn Hax, who I think are both phenomenal at their jobs (Hax is the best of all).

Every Christmas, some frau would write in and ask Abby for her pecan pie recipe.

I still make Ann Landers meat loaf.