Dear Abby
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Dear Abby is the name of the notable advice column founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pen name, Abigail Van Buren, and carried on today by her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, who now owns the legal rights to the pen name.
According to Pauline Phillips, she came up with the pen name, Abigail Van Buren, by combining the name of a biblical figure, Abigail in the Book of Samuel, with the last name of former U.S. President Martin Van Buren.
The column was syndicated by McNaught Syndicate from 1956 until 1966, when it moved to Universal Press Syndicate. Dear Abby's current syndication company claims the column is known for its "uncommon common sense and youthful perspective".[1]
In popular culture
- The day after Lyndon Johnson's landslide victory in the 1964 U.S. Presidential election, nationally syndicated editorial cartoonist Bill Mauldin drew a cartoon captioned "Dear Abby..." in which he showed Johnson's defeated opponent Barry Goldwater writing a letter.
- In 1964, Dear Abby was the subject of a pop song with the same title, sung by The Hearts.
- In 1974, John Prine recorded a song called "Dear Abby" on his Sweet Revenge album.
- In 1986, the Californian punk group Dead Kennedys recorded "Dear Abby" for their album Bedtime For Democracy.
- The original version of "The Chanukah Song", by Adam Sandler contains the line "We got Ann Landers, and her sister Dear Abby", a reference to the Jewish heritage of the twins.
- The song "Beauty School Dropout" from the musical Grease mentions Dear Abby.
- An episode of The Brady Bunch involves an advice column called "Dear Libby", and obvious reference to Dear Abby.
References
- ^ "About Dear Abby". uExpress (uexpress.com).