Ask Ann Landers

Ann Landers was a pen name created by Chicago Sun-Times advice columnist Ruth Crowley in 1943 and taken over by Esther Pauline "Eppie" Lederer in 1955.

For 56 years, the Ask Ann Landers syndicated advice column was a regular feature in many newspapers across North America.

Unlike her eventual successor Esther Lederer, Crowley kept her identity as Landers secret, even enjoining her children to help her keep it quiet.

[1] By including expert advice from authorities, which none of her competitors did, Eppie Lederer won a contest to become the new writer of the column, debuting on October 16, 1955.

[8][9] In 1985, the attorney general of Illinois, Neil Hartigan, wrote to Ask Ann Landers requesting assistance in dispelling the hoax that a film was going to depict Jesus as gay.

She repeatedly favored legalization of prostitution and was pro-choice on abortion, yet denounced atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair.

I cannot support same-sex marriage, however, because it flies in the face of cultural and traditional family life as we have known it for centuries.

"[20] In 1995, Eppie commented thus in The New Yorker about Pope John Paul II: "He has a sweet sense of humor.

[21] A 1995 "Ann Landers" column said, "In recent years, there have been reports of people with twisted minds putting razor blades and poison in taffy apples and Halloween candy.

The vague warning was criticized for causing fear dishonestly, as there have been no documented cases of children receiving poisoned candy during door-to-door Halloween trick-or-treating.

Creators Syndicate President Rick Newcombe said Lederer's editors, Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, should start a column of their own.

Newspapers were given three possible choices: In addition to Annie's Mailbox, classic Ask Ann Landers, and Dear Prudence.

[29] A few months after Eppie Lederer took over as Ann Landers, her twin sister Pauline Esther "PoPo" Phillips introduced a similar, competing column, Dear Abby, using the pseudonym "Abigail Van Buren", which produced a lengthy estrangement between the two sisters.