Abigail Van Buren
- Mini Bio
- Name: Pauline Esther Friedman
- Born: 4th July 1918, Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.
- Died: 16th January 2013, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
- Alma mater: Morningside College
- Occupation: Agony aunt and newspaper columnist
- Pen name: Abigail Van Buren; This was the pen name she adopted for writing her columns
- Famous sibling: Her twin sister Esther Pauline Friedman was also a popular advice columnist using the pen name Ann Landers
- Books: Abigail Van Buren published five Dear Abby books and a further tribute book called: 'Where were you when President Kennedy was shot'. The book was the result of the sackfuls of letters Abby received about the death of JFK
- Trivia: Both sisters married their husbands in a joint wedding celebration on 2nd July 1939 just 2 days before their 22nd birthday
- Legacy: The Dear Abby advice column lived on after she became to ill to continue when her daughter Jeanne took over the pen name Abigail Van Buren from 2002 onwards
"Fighting fire with fire only gets you ashes!"
Abigail Van Buren"The purpose of life is to amount to something and have it make some difference that you lived at all"
Abigail Van Buren"The best index to a person's character is how he treats people who can't do him any good, and how he treats people who can't fight back"
Abigail Van Buren"If you want your children to turn out well, spend twice as much time with them, and half as much money"
Abigail Van Buren"If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders"
Abigail Van Buren"Fear less, hope more. Eat less, chew more. Talk less, say more. Hate less, love more"
Abigail Van Buren"Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age. Nothing does - except wrinkles"
Abigail Van Buren"My parents came with nothing. They all came with nothing"
Abigail Van Buren"The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints"
Abigail Van Buren"The less you talk, the more you're listened to"
Abigail Van Buren"Kissing power is stronger than will power"
Abigail Van Buren"If we could sell our experiences for what they cost us, we'd all be millionaires"
Abigail Van Buren"A bad habit never disappears miraculously, it's an undo-it-yourself project"
Abigail Van Buren"Cruel words erode the self-esteem like the ocean eats away the shore"
Abigail Van Buren"If you want a place in the sun, you’ve got to put up with a few blisters"
Abigail Van Buren"You are what you are when nobody is looking"
Abigail Van Buren"The less you talk, the more you’re listened to"
Abigail Van Buren"Loneliness is the ultimate poverty"
Abigail Van Buren
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Abigail Van Buren Biography
Bio By: Michael Joseph Farrelly
Abigail Van Buren was the lady with no previous work experience who in 1956 called up the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle to inform him that she could write better replies to the papers advice column letters that they were publishing daily. Taken aback and impressed with her positive attitude he gave her a trial in the form of some letters requesting advice and expected the results within one week.
After receiving them she completed her responses within two hours and promptly sent them back to the editor (Stanleigh Arnold). After reading her replies he assumed she had to be a professional writer and hired her on the spot, although she was not a professional writer she had a natural talent with words so Arnold was not to be disappointed and the advice columnist Abigail Van Buren was borne.
The Dear Abby column brought a freshness to the over stale stoic replies that were the mainstay of advice since the turn of the 19th into the 20th century. Dear Abby brought an acidic wit coupled with an understanding of the issue at stake that was delivered with a brevity of words that made not just easy reading but got readers addicted to their daily dose of advice.
Within a few years the column was syndicated to over 1,400 newspapers boasting a combined readership of 110 million people. Van Buren had become a super star agony aunt and that success also got her onto the air with the successful Dear Abby radio show hosted on CBS between 1963 and 1975.
Abigail Van Buren published five Dear Abby books and a further tribute book called: 'Where were you when President Kennedy was shot'. The book was the result of the sackfuls of letters Abby received about the death of JFK. She was the queen of one liners that made it thoroughly enjoyable compiling my list of 15 of the best Abigail Van Buren quotes.
Quotes About Abigail Van Buren
The columnist Judith Martin described her thus: "She really wanted to help people. Yes, she wrote with humor, but with great sympathy. She had an enormous amount of influence, and for the good. Her place in the culture was really extraordinary"
The advice columnist Carolyn Hax talked of the sisters legacy: "Any of us who do this owe them such a debt. The advice column was a backwater of the newspaper, and now it is so woven into our cultural fabric. These columns are loved and widely read, by people you wouldn't expect. That couldn't have happened without them"
Her daughter and agony aunt successor Jeanne Phillips shared this eulogy: "My mother leaves very big high heels to fill with a legacy of compassion, commitment and positive social change. I will honor her memory every day by continuing this legacy" says her daughter"
