Esther "Eppie" Pauline Friedman Lederer, better known as Ann Landers (July 4, 1918 – June 22, 2002), is best known for writing the famous syndicated advice column "Ann Landers." For some 45 years, it was a regular feature in many newspapers across North America. In it, people wrote the columnist for advice and she answered. Lederer's writing style was direct, but often witty and sometimes acerbic. She would regularly upbraid an errant letter-writer with the quip, "Watch it, bub!"

Landers won a contest to take over the column in 1955, and wound up as owner of the copyright. She chose not to have a different writer continue the column after her death; it ultimately ceased publication when the few weeks' worth of material she had sent out before her death finally ran out.

Landers was an identical twin: her sister, Pauline Esther Friedman Phillips, who was 17 minutes younger than Esther, wrote the Dear Abby column as Abigail Van Buren. As children, they grew up in Sioux City, Iowa, the daughters of Russian Jewish emigrants, and went by the nicknames "Eppie" and "Popo", respectively. They were very close and even had a joint wedding ceremony in 1939 at the age of 21.

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