Jeanne Phillips

Jeanne Phillips' Dear Abby column is syndicated in about 1,400 newspapers in the U.S. with a combined circulation of more than 110 million.

[3] Dear Abby's website receives about 10,000 letters per week,[4] seeking advice on a large variety of personal matters.

[5] When you're having lunch with her, you get the urge to put down your butter knife, spill your life story and shed tears.

Pauline then said that her Dear Abby column received a substantial amount of mail from teenagers and that Jeanne could reply to some of them.

[7] In the 1970s, Phillips helped her mother write over half of the columns for her nationally syndicated radio show on CBS News.

[17] Phillips said she yearned for tangible letters for being more intimate because as described by the Palm Beach Daily News she could see "tear stains on the stationery, the smell of cigarette smoke in the paper, the penmanship style and other things that reflect the individual writing".

[18] When she is not knowledgeable about a subject, she consults experts from various fields, including "medical, psychiatric, legal, ethical", and religious.

[19] Phillips noted that the column touches on numerous topics, including "organ donation, domestic violence, mental health, child safety, volunteerism, civility, alcohol abuse, inhalant abuse ... and the dangers of tobacco".

[8] On Valentine's Day in 2001, the Dear Abby radio show was honored with the 2,172nd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The New York Times's John Eligon said her response sparked fierce discussion on social media and "has inspired a fresh debate about identity, acceptance and inclusion".

[23] During the Vietnam War, in 1967, Phillips' mother started Operation Dear Abby, through which holiday messages were sent to American soldiers.

[24] Phillips' mother was inspired to create this service when Billy Thompson, a sergeant, requested a letter from home for his Christmas present.

[26][27] Jeanne Phillips collaborated with United States Department of the Navy Manpower & Reserve Affairs to create an Internet-based substitute at "AnyServiceMember.mil".

[29] Many prestigious national organizations have acknowledged her for her advice and efforts to educate her readers on different topics including those related to health, safety, and acceptance of multiculturalism and diversity.

Shortly thereafter, her family moved back to Twin Cities in Minnesota so her father could take the helm of her grandfather's liquor distribution business.

[12][36] Phillips' aunt, Esther Pauline "Eppie" Lederer—Pauline's twin sister and the final columnist of the Ask Ann Landers advice column—died in June 2002.

In addition to penning a tribute column, Phillips read a poem about her aunt on Larry King Live.

In an interview with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in 2001, Lederer said: "Jeanne has been working with her mother for 20 years, and it seems to be a perfect fit."

The California Supreme Court Justice Stanley Mosk officiated at the wedding and Herb Alpert performed.

[41] According to his obituary in the Star Tribune, Eddie was a "liquor tycoon", a "gifted businessman", and a philanthropist who "enlarged a family tradition of generous giving".

In 2002, the Phillips family revealed that Jeanne's mother, Pauline, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

[42] Tim Johnson, a medical journalist for ABC News, wrote in February 2010 that Pauline resides with her husband, Morton, in Minnetonka, Minnesota and has caregivers.

On August 14, 2018, Phillips' nephew Dean won the Democratic (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party) nomination for United States Congress from Minnesota's 3rd congressional district.