Eppie Lederer

Eppie Lederer
Publicity photo in 1961
Born	Esther Pauline Friedman (1918-07-04)July 4, 1918 Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.
Died	June 22, 2002(2002-06-22) (aged 83) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Pen name	Ann Landers
Occupation	Personal advice columnist, author, radio host
Alma mater	Morningside College
Spouse	Julius Lederer (m. 1939–1975)
Children	Margo (b. 1940)
Relatives	Pauline Phillips (twin sister)

Esther Pauline "Eppie" Lederer née Friedman (July 4, 1918 – June 22, 2002), better known by the pen name Ann Landers, was an American advice columnist and eventually a nationwide media celebrity. She began writing the "Ask Ann Landers" column in 1955 and continued for 47 years, by which time its readership was 90 million people. A 1978 World Almanac survey named her the most influential woman in the United States. She was the identical twin sister of Pauline Phillips, who wrote the "Dear Abby" advice column as Abigail Van Buren.

Lederer was a profile-raiser for several medical charities, and in 1977 President Carter appointed her to a six-year term on a cancer advisory board.

Born in Sioux City, Iowa, Esther Pauline and her identical twin sister Pauline Esther ("Popo", who was 17 minutes younger) were daughters of Russian Jewish immigrants Rebecca Friedman (née Rushall) and Abraham B. Friedman. They grew up in Sioux City and attended its Morningside College for three and a half years (1936–39), where they wrote a gossip column for the college's newspaper. Eppie majored in journalism and psychology.

During Lederer's career writing the Ann Landers column, her sister wrote a similar personal advice column, "Dear Abby", under the name Abigail Van Buren, which she initiated in San Francisco a few months after Eppie took over as Ann Landers in Chicago. As competing columnists they had a discordant relationship. They reconciled publicly in 1964, but acrimony between them persisted. Just a few years before Eppie's death, they were not on speaking terms.

In her later years, Lederer wrote her column at home, sometimes while in the bathtub. She had numerous friends and was a regular part of the Chicago social scene.

In July 1939, at the age of 21, Eppie and Popo were married in a double-wedding ceremony on July 2, 1939, 2 days before their joint birthday. There were 750 guests, and hundreds more who stood outside to watch. Eppie was married to Julius "Jules" Lederer, who became a business executive; Popo married Morton Phillips of Minneapolis.