''Dear Prudence'' is an

advice column An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response. The responses are wr ...

appearing several times weekly in the

online magazine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer ma ...

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'' and syndicated to over 200 newspapers.

History

Herbert Stein

The column was initiated on 20 December 1997. "Prudence" was a pseudonym, and the author's true identity was not revealed at the time. ''Slates archive currently indicates that the author of those first columns was Herbert Stein. Stein ceased writing the column after three months and the column went on hiatus.

Margo Howard

In mid-March 1998, the column returned, with the explanation that "Prudence" had not come back from her "needlework"—per the explanation offered in Stein's last column—but rather had convinced her daughter and namesake to continue her work. While similarly anonymous at first, the new author of the column was eventually revealed to be Margo Howard, the daughter of Esther Lederer, a.k.a.

Ann Landers Ann Landers was a pen name created by ''Chicago Sun-Times'' advice columnist Ruth Crowley in 1943 and taken over by Esther Pauline "Eppie" Lederer (July 4, 1918 – June 22, 2002) in 1955. For 56 years, the Ask Ann Landers syndicated ad ...

. Howard maintained the column for nearly eight years. Her last ''Dear Prudence'' column appeared in ''Slate'' on 2 February 2006. Howard then had a Creators Syndicate advice column called "Dear Margo", whose run ended on Friday, 10 May 2013.

Emily Yoffe

On 9 February 2006, ''Dear Prudence'' was taken over by ''Slate'' staffer Emily Yoffe. Beginning in the summer of 2007, when ''Slate'' video magazine

Slate V Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

was launched, Yoffe also appeared in short, videorecorded Dear Prudence clips, illustrated with

animations Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

Daniel M. Lavery

In November 2015, Daniel M. Lavery, writer and co-founder of ''

The Toast ''The Toast'' was an American anthology, humor and feminist writing website, founded by editors Nicole Cliffe and Daniel M. Lavery (né Ortberg) and publisher Nicholas Pavich. It was active from January 2013 through July 2016. Content and tar ...

'', took up the "Prudence" role from Yoffe, but wrote as Mallory Ortberg until April 2018. In June 2016, ''Slate'' launched the "Dear Prudence" podcast to accompany the column. Lavery, usually accompanied by one or two guests, discusses and responds to additional letters in weekly episodes. Lavery moved on from the role in May 2021.

Jenée Desmond-Harris

Writer and ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' Opinion Editor Jenée Desmond-Harris took over the column starting June 3, 2021. R. Eric Thomas took over during Desmond-Harris' parental leave in spring and summer 2022.

Cultural reference

The title of the column is a reference to the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

song " Dear Prudence".

References

External links

''Dear Prudence'' archive at ''Slate''
Advice columns {{journalism-stub