Eppie Lederer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eppie Lederer
|
|
|---|---|
Publicity photo in 1961
|
|
| Born |
Esther Pauline Friedman
July 4, 1918 Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.
|
| Died | June 22, 2002 (aged 83) |
| Other names | Ann Landers |
| Alma mater | Morningside College |
| Occupation | Personal advice columnist, author, radio host |
| Spouse(s) | Jules Lederer (m. 1939– div. 1975) |
| Children | Margo (b. 1940) |
| Relatives | Pauline Phillips (twin sister) |
Esther Pauline "Eppie" Lederer (born Friedman; July 4, 1918 – June 22, 2002) was a famous American advice columnist. She was better known by her writing name, Ann Landers. For 47 years, she wrote the popular "Ask Ann Landers" column. By the time she stopped writing, about 90 million people read her column! In 1978, a survey even called her the most important woman in the United States.
Eppie Lederer had an identical twin sister named Pauline Phillips. Pauline also wrote a very famous advice column called "Dear Abby" under the name Abigail Van Buren.
Contents
Growing Up with a Twin
Early Life in Iowa
Eppie Lederer was born in Sioux City, Iowa. Her identical twin sister, Pauline Esther, was born just 17 minutes later. Their parents, Rebecca and Abraham Friedman, were immigrants from Russia.
The sisters grew up in Sioux City. They both went to Morningside College for about three and a half years. While there, they even wrote a gossip column for their college newspaper! Eppie studied journalism and psychology.
Sisters and Columnists
During Eppie's long career as Ann Landers, her twin sister Pauline started her own advice column. It was called Dear Abby. This meant the two sisters were competing columnists, which sometimes caused disagreements between them.
They publicly made up in 1964, but they still had some arguments over the years. Pauline's daughter, Jeanne Phillips, later explained that her mother liked being a twin, but Eppie wanted to be seen as her own person. This difference also led to some conflict.
Family Life
A Double Wedding
Eppie and Pauline had a special double-wedding ceremony on July 2, 1939. This was just two days before their 21st birthday! About 750 guests attended, and many more people stood outside to watch.
Eppie married Jules Lederer, who later became a successful business executive. Pauline married Morton Phillips.
Sharing Personal News
Eppie and Jules divorced in 1975. Eppie shared this personal news with her readers in her column on July 1, 1975. She wrote, "The sad, incredible fact is, that after 36 years of marriage, Jules and I are being divorced." After she shared this, she received 30,000 kind letters from her readers who felt for her.
Becoming Ann Landers
The original writer of the Chicago Sun-Times "Ask Ann Landers" column, Ruth Crowley, passed away in 1955. Ruth had kept her identity a secret for nine years.
Eppie Lederer won a contest to take over the column later that year. She then took on the name Ann Landers. She wrote the column for 47 years! She became a huge media celebrity across North America. She appeared on television and traveled a lot for media and charity events.
As the years went by, Ann Landers started answering questions about topics that people didn't usually talk about openly in print, like homosexuality. In a 1993 interview, she said she was happy that some of the strict rules she had to follow in the 1950s were gone.
She even appeared on a TV show called What's My Line? on March 18, 1956. She signed in as Mrs. Jules Lederer.
Later Life and Legacy
Her Final Years
Eppie Lederer was healthy for most of her life. In January 2002, she was diagnosed with an illness. She passed away on June 22, 2002, just two weeks before her 84th birthday. Her former husband, Jules, had passed away a few years earlier in 1999.
Her Lasting Impact
After Eppie Lederer's death, her longtime editors, Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, started a new advice column called Annie's Mailbox.
In 2003, a book was published that shared letters between Eppie Lederer and her daughter.
In 2006, a writer named David Rambo wrote a play about Eppie Lederer's life and work as Ann Landers. The play was performed again in 2008 in California, starring actress Mimi Kennedy.
