'Dear Abby' Advice Columnist Dies at 94

Long-time American newspaper columnist Pauline Friedman Phillips, who for decades wrote the syndicated advice column "Dear Abby," has died. She was 94.

Phillips' publicist said she died Wednesday in Minnesota after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.

Phillips' column -- seen by millions of readers -- competed for decades with another widely circulated advice column, "Ann Landers," authored by Phillips' twin sister Esther Friedman Lederer.

"Abby" appeared in 1,000 newspapers, as far away as Brazil and Thailand. It addressed queries ranging from marriage and relationships to illness, aging, sex, dying and equal rights.

The first Dear Abby column appeared in 1956, and Phillips continued writing the advice feature until 2000, when she and daughter Jeanne began sharing the byline.

Jeanne Phillips took over the column full time in 2002 when the family announced that Pauline Phillips had Alzheimer's.

In 2003, Phillips' family and an anonymous donor gave $10 million to the Mayo Clinic medical center to boost Alzheimer's research.