'Abby' was popular for tackling serious issues in a fresh way

CHICAGO -- Ann Landers resonated with readers for nearly five decades because she evolved with the times, wrote about topics that others shied away from and never let her advice get stale, her daughter said Sunday.

While Esther Lederer won a contest to become the second Ann Landers after the column's creator died, it will not be carried on by another writer after Lederer's death on Saturday.

"She owned the copyright and she did not wish for the name to continue," Margo Howard said of her mother. "She felt it was very much associated with her."

Instead, a new column called Ann's Mailbox will be written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of Ann Landers.

Lederer died at the age of 83 from multiple myeloma, less than two weeks before her July 4 birthday.

A farewell column written by Howard will be distributed today, Lederer's syndicator, Creators Syndicate of Los Angeles, said in a statement Sunday.

Ann Landers columns that Lederer had already completed will run through July 27. "That will be the last column with Ann Landers' byline," said Richard S. Newcombe, president of Creators Syndicate.

Column replacement

Creators will provide two new advice columns, one written by Howard, who has been writing the column Dear Prudence for the online magazine Slate, the company said.

Howard, of Cambridge, Mass., said her mother's columns resonated with readers because she tackled tough topics and kept up with trends.

"She was very brave about what she chose to get behind and she went public about some issues that other people wouldn't have," Howard said. "She was able to change with the times. There was nothing dated about her opinions. She just made it her business to stay current."

Lederer, who was known as Eppie, wrote about homosexuality, abortion and AIDS in the column she started writing in 1955 in the Chicago Sun-Times. She switched syndication companies in 1987 and the column moved to the Chicago Tribune.

"Her warmth, wisdom and common sense informed and controlled generations of Americans," said Peter Rowe, president of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, which ended its 25th annual meeting in Pittsburgh Saturday.

Lederer's twin sister, Pauline Esther "PoPo" Phillips, also known as Abigail Van Buren, followed her into the profession as writer of the Dear Abby column.

David Grossvogel, a Cornell University professor who did a computer analysis of 10,000 of Lederer's columns for his 1986 book, "Dear Ann Landers: Our Intimate and Changing Dialogue with America's Best-Loved Confidante," said Lederer broke ground with her column.

"She was among the very first to actually respond to people who had specific problems that would not normally have been allowed in print," Grossvogel said. "She lived through an age of very rapid changes. Since she touched on all of them, her impact was very widespread. Her skill was in simply moving abreast of the times."

Wanted to help

Lederer wrote in a way that gave readers the feeling she was talking with them individually, Grossvogel said.

"She would be as interested in the big problems of the world as she was in tiny little concerns that agitated people such as which way toilet paper should be hung," he said.

Bob Greene, a syndicated columnist for the Tribune, said Lederer knew how to connect with readers through her words.

"There was just no wall between Eppie and her readers. It just went directly from her to them. It's magic and she had it," said Greene, a colleague and friend of Lederer.

Howard said she was touched by the outpouring of support following her mother's death.

"There are many generations who felt that she was their mother," she said. "She cared about them. It was just woven into the language. People understood who she was and where she was coming from."

Lederer did not want a memorial service.

"She really didn't want to bother anybody. She didn't want to put anybody out," Howard said. "She said: 'Let everyone say a little prayer privately."'