Ann Landers is more than America's favorite advice columnist. She probably has more influence on the way people work out their problems than any other person now alive. Every day she discusses the most intimate details of life with 90 million people.
Feisty and outspoken, Ann Landers, now 74 and going strong, may be the most visible part of America's conscience, because she pours her moral standards into every letter she chooses to answer and every answer she writes. And as she makes plainly clear in this interview, she plans to keep right on doing it. Psychology Today met with her at her Chicago home.
The Editors
DEAR ANN LANDERS: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE MOST POWERFUL WOMAN IN AMERICA
PT: Are we talking to Ann Landers or are we talking to Eppie Lederer?
AL: Actually, they are one and the same, so I guess you are talking to both at once.
PT: Which one should we refer to you as?
AL: Refer to me as Ann Landers.
PT: How do you draw the line, or isn't there a line?
AL: The people who know me and people who read me say that I am very much the same person, that when they read Ann Landers they are hearing Eppie Lederer. My private personality is very much the same as my professional personality I am not two people.
PT: Do you see yourself as a healer, as a kind of lay therapist, as a change agent?
AL: None of the above. I see myself as an unbiased, objective, experienced listener. I don't consider myself a professional neither a professional writer nor a professional counselor. People sometimes find that astonishing. I am not a college graduate. I finished three and one-half years and then got married. What I know I've learned from people. I have always made it a point to be with people who are smarter than I. That's how I learn things. Being with people who aren't as smart as you are, well, you don't learn anything.
PT: How do you do your work?
AL: I put in twice as much time as most working people, but my time is my own. That's the beauty of what I'm doing. If I want to stay up until two in the morning, which I often do working, I can do it. But, I don't want anybody getting me up at 7 A.M. The work that I'm doing is perfect for the type of person I am.
PT: When you first got the job you called on an awful lot of power figures and wove them into your answers. Where is the power that draws you or that rewards you?
AL: I don't think about the power. People tell me that I'm enormously powerful. One survey taken a few years ago said that I was the most powerful woman in the United States, exactly graded and with respects. I had to laugh because the survey was printed in the Washington Post among other papers. AR the column means to me is an extraordinary opportunity to do good in the world.
PT: Well, you have power in that you influence many people. People look to You for giving advice that somebody would give them if they just sat down and listened. To the extent that so many people pour out their hearts to you and so many people read what you say, you do have power. A different kind of power.
AL: I understand that because I have an enormous reading audience. My mail comes from people from all over the world, every possible point of view. They represent every possible age group. I realize that I am connecting with a tremendous number of people. You would not believe the amount of mail I get. You'd say, "How are you going to get through that?" Well, I'd better get through it. If I don't, I'm going to have twice as much tomorrow.
PT: You've said that you are doing a lot of good. How would you describe the good that Ann Landers does?
AL: I am understanding, trustworthy, somewhat experienced. People believe me. And the price is right. It costs 29 cents to get my attention. Also, I think that after people read me for a while, they get to feel that I'm their friend. They're comfortable with me because, think things they can relate to.
PT: What kinds of things?
AL: Well, so many people start out by saying, "I've been reading you for a long time and you say things that my mother used to say." Or "You say things that I have said to myself but couldn't accept." Or, and you could grow to hate this phrase, "You put me in touch with my feelings." What they're saying is, "You've made me feel that I could tell you that, that you won't be judgmental, that you'll be objective, and that you'll help me."
PT: How is that different from the traditional therapist? How is that different from a very good mother?
AL: I don't consider myself a therapist. I am more like a friend. I am somebody who is there, who will listen. Often, when people sit down and write their problems on a piece of paper and then cope with it, they can understand it. They begin to think about it in a more objective way.
PT: One of the wonderful stories that we have read about you is that you have to read the letters alone. You have your process. How do you decide what letters to respond to?
AL: It's a question that I can't answer. It's just strictly instinct. It comes from my gut. When I go through a days mail, something catches my eye that says this is good material.
PT: Are you looking for things that are representative of everybody's problems, or are you looking for things that are unique? Or are you looking for things that give you a chance to speak about something that's been on your mind?
Tags:
advice,
advice columnist,
Ann Landers,
college graduate,
conscience,
dear ann,
editors,
eppie lederer,
half years,
healer,
intimate details,
listener,
media,
moral standards,
morality,
powerful woman,
private personality,
professional counselor,
professional personality,
professional writer
