I’ve always enjoyed reading Dear Abby. I don’t read the column consistently, but whenever something pops up in my news feed or somewhere else, I take the time to read it (my other guilty pleasure is reading the reddit, “Am I the asshole?” feed). And now I know why. Recently, an old column has been making the rounds on Facebook. At first, I believed the column to be something very recent because it seems like it’s becoming vogue to proudly announce one’s bigotry. However, this particular column dates back to February 2014. In a nutshell, this conservative retired couple moved to Florida and were incensed because they were welcomed quickly into the neighborhood, and gasp….two couples were gay. Of course, they were nice enough, but when it was their turn to host, they left the two couples off their guest list because they did not approve of their “lifestyle choices.” Then the couple had to gall to be incensed when they were not invited to future gatherings and labeled bigots. After researching the Dear Abby column, I learned of a much earlier column that elicited a pointed three word response, “You should move.” This time, Abby took more time to educate the narrow-minded couple. Go Abby!
What is so amazing about the first response when a couple was complaining about the “odd couple” that moved into the neighborhood, which was obviously code for gay, was that this column was printed in May, 1972. Pauline Phillips, the founder of Dear Abby, was not afraid to take on the bigots from the very start, even if she risked backlash from her readers or cancellation of her column. LGBTQ+ history has an esteemed view of the crusading woman because even with the bags of hate mail, she never backed down. She further affirmed her enlightened views when she explicitly gave her support for same sex marriage in 2007. Dear Abby is the most widely syndicated columnist in the world. The column is syndidated in more than 1,400 papers (despite the near death of the newspaper industry) with a reach of more than 110 million people. So, for some positive perspective on this, that a hell of a lot more than the number of people who voted for Donald Trump. He may have a ridiculously large base, but Dear Abbey has more followers! And yes, she is still going strong as her website receives 10,000 letters a week. Of course, it isn’t the original Dear Abby, her daughter took over the gig. But her daugher was taught the same respect and dignity of the original Dear Abby, and she continues to provide compassionate, sound advice to thousands.
While I certainly have never written a book with a main character as an advice columnist, that would certainly be an interesting career choice to use in a book. Not sure how many readers hold the title of advice columnist out there to meet Jae’s book bingo square, but it still would be fun to write this. Anyhoo, with over 30 published novels, I do have many different occupations to choose from: everything from librarian, to social worker, spy, firefighter, FBI agent, police officer, book store owner, finance magnet, human resource mirector, marketing mirector, office assistant, writer, medical student, bartender, scultor, teacher, pleasure worker, maintenance (fix-it) woman, vetinarian, teacher, nurse, dog groomer, rancher, olympic gold medalist, politician, reporter, and definitely a few more that I can’t recall! You all know the drill, just click the links below if any of these appeal to you.
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Annette Mori 
That ‘Dear Abby’ column popped up several years back, after a certain inauguration, and pre-riots and Covid. Our national conversation has turned back to such things. Personally, I don’t see just bigotry in this and other examples that surface. I see people who are completely self-unaware in a few cases. In most cases I see people who live in a specific bubble who don’t mix with anyone socially, formally or informally, not like themselves, and who only consume media that confirms their own point of view.
While ‘Abby’s’ attempt to educate was laudable, and it recirculating again ten years later is a good thing, it’s very likely not being seen by the people who need to see it. Most of the ways tolerance, acceptance, and inclusion used to be taught have been cut off by the very same types of people to whom this was addressed.
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Unfortunately, true! The echo chamber is vast and unyielding.
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I receive Dear Abby in my mailbox every day and have so for twenty years. I don’t read the newspapers too often and I like the two to three letters that are inside her Ezine (early title for what is now a blog). Some of the advice is spot on. I’ve seen the ones you’ve mentioned and re-read versions of it. I too like the ‘Am I an @$$hole’ on Reddit. They also have vlogs where people read them.
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