( CNN ) -- Pauline Phillips , better known to millions of newspaper readers as the original Dear Abby advice columnist , has died after a long battle with Alzheimer 's Disease , her family said Thursday . She died Wednesday in Minneapolis , Minnesota , at age 94 . Phillips ' columns were published in an era when newspaper readers began to prize straight-talking , pithy advice about marriages , children , jobs -- just about anything that troubled people . Phillips wrote under the pen name of Abigail Van Buren , shortened to `` Dear Abby '' in newspapers . `` Abigail '' was taken from the wise woman in the Old Testament and `` Van Buren '' was one of her favorite presidents . The first Dear Abby column appeared in 1956 , and Phillips solely wrote the advice feature until 2000 , when she and daughter Jeanne began sharing the byline . Jeanne Phillips took the column over full time in August 2002 , when the family announced that Pauline Phillips had Alzheimer 's . `` I have lost my mother , my mentor and my best friend , '' Jeanne Phillips said in a statement . `` My mother leaves very big high heels to fill with a legacy of compassion , commitment and positive social change . I will honor her memory every day by continuing this legacy . '' Pauline Phillips strove to say more with less . Her direct style was captured in her favorite Swedish toast , according to the column 's syndication service : . `` Fear less ; hope more . Eat less ; chew more . Talk less ; say more . Hate less ; love more . '' What was your favorite Dear Abby advice ? Before the digital era of journalism introduced such notions as `` crowd sourcing '' of the public and computerized metrics on readership , Phillips assembled her Q & A columns from queries mailed in from readers . She was able to quantify her following by the number of newspapers who bought her columns -- and by how many readers spent money on a stamp to mail her a letter . `` Dear Abby '' is the world 's most widely syndicated column , having appeared in 1,400 newspapers with a daily readership of more than 110 million , the syndication service Universal Uclick said . In another example of her following , Phillips held a survey in 1987 asking readers to send a postcard or note -- anonymously if they wanted -- about whether they cheated on their mates . Almost 250,000 people responded within three months . Her twin sister was also a famous advice columnist . Esther `` Eppie '' Pauline Friedman Lederer , who died at age 83 in 2002 of multiple myeloma , was the author of the newspaper column `` Ann Landers . '' Phillips , who was born July 4 , 1918 , in Sioux City , Iowa , ventured into journalism in 1955 at age 37 . She called the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and told him she could write a better advice column than what the paper had . Phillips was surprised when the editor agreed to interview her . She described herself as `` an average , middle-aged housewife who had been happily married to the same man for 17 years and had reared two 'reasonably normal ' teenagers , '' according to a statement by the syndicate . She had never written professionally , though she studied journalism in college . But she asserted she could write an advice column `` because all of her life she had been an amateur 'wailing wall without portfolio , ' `` the syndicate said . Dear Abby : Kyra Phillips remembers her mentor . Editor Stanleigh Arnold `` wanted only to get this self-styled journalist out of his office , so he asked her to write sample replies to some previously published columns . She did , and the rest , as they say , is history , '' the syndicate said . The first `` Dear Abby '' column appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on Jan. 9 , 1956 , the same year it was first syndicated . Phillips advocated `` equal rights for women , minorities , people with mental illness and those who are physically challenged , '' and her column `` promoted AIDS awareness and education , hospice care , the living will , organ donation and also raised awareness about gender apartheid suffered by women in Afghanistan , '' the syndicate said . When asked of her greatest accomplishment , Phillips often stated : `` Surviving . '' In a 1990 interview with CNN 's Larry King , Phillips explained the bottom line of dispensing advice : . `` There is always an answer , even if it 's say , look , pal , you ca n't change anybody but yourself . You got to play the cards that are dealt you and you have to live with this , do the best you can . But you got to accept what fate deals you , '' Phillips said . She is survived by her husband of 73 years , Mort Phillips ; daughter Jeanne Phillips ; grandchildren , Dean Phillips , Tyler Phillips , Jay Phillips , Hutton Phillips ; and two great-granddaughters , Daniela and Pia . Private services have been held . People we 've lost in 2013 : The lives they lived .
NEW : `` There is always an answer , even if it 's ... you ca n't change anybody but yourself , '' she said . Pauline Phillips was author of the Dear Abby column for decades . She used the pen name Abigail Van Buren . In 2002 , she was diagnosed with Alzheimer 's Disease .