Abigail Van Buren
- Category : 1918-births
- Type : MS
- Profile : 2/4 - Hermit / Opportunist
- Definition : Single
- Incarnation Cross : RAX Tension 2
Biography
American columnist who, with her twin sister Ann Landers, both became nationally syndicated advice columnists. Together the girls wrote gossip columns from their high school and college days. They married in a double ceremony in 1939.
"Dear Abby" received 3,000 letters a day and those with a stamped return envelope were answered within a three-week period, thanks to her dedicated staff of six. From 1956, she wrote six columns a week, forthright, honest, humorous and sometimes showing a bawdy sense of humor.
Tiny at barely over five feet, she was friendly as a puppy, which concealed a deep sense of privacy. She and her twin sister had one older and one younger sisters, all close for their lifetimes. That family closeness continued into the next generation as Abby's daughter Jeannie worked with her, and she had a long-term, comfortable marriage.
She died on 16 January 2013 at age 94, after battling Alzheimer's disease for 11 years. She was survived by her husband of 73 years Morton Phillips and daughter Jeanne.