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Opinion: Remembering Margo Howard — A Columnist’s Legacy of Warmth and Wit
From Ann Landers to Dear Margo: A Family Tradition
Ecorescuezone.com – Opinion: Remembering Margo Howard — the news of her passing at eighty-six years old brought renewed attention to a remarkable career in journalism. Howard spent years writing the beloved Dear Prudence column for Slate magazine before creating her own advice platform, Dear Margo. But advice wasn’t merely her profession; it was her inheritance. Her mother, Eppie Lederer, wrote the Dear Ann Landers column for nearly fifty years, creating a foundation that Margo would build upon with grace and humor.
I first encountered Margo when I was a young reporter in Chicago, and she was already one of the city’s most respected voices. I remember a snowy evening when several Chicago journalists visited her home. She invited us inside and told us to leave our wet coats in her bedroom. As she made hot cocoa, one of us wandered into the bedroom and spotted a photograph. “Margo, Margo, how delicious!” he exclaimed. “You have a picture of Ann Landers in your bedroom!”
Life Lessons and Personal Connections
Later in her career, Howard wrote Eat, Drink, & Remarry, a charming memoir about her four marriages. She married a Hollywood actor and a Boston cardiologist, among others, and wrote about each relationship with honesty and affection. She once asked me a question that stayed with me: “What good is experience if you can’t learn from it?”
We spoke regularly over the years, usually every few weeks, often after one of my radio programs. She would tell me about Herschel, her dog, or share observations about the world. One week she wrote after hearing my segments on Minnesota farmers and a Seder in Nepal. “I heard your Minnesota farmers and Seder in Nepal,” she said. “Lotta ways to live your life, no?”
That simple sentence captures something essential about Margo. She believed in the richness of human experience and the importance of paying attention to it.
Kindness in Small Things
Margo remembered people. She would send notes asking about my family, always calling us “The Beauties.” She also acted on her compassion. Once she sent a check to a family we had interviewed who had lost their home in a fire. Her note was simple: “I don’t think they need more kind words as much as this.”
She noticed details others might miss. When white smoke appeared from the Sistine Chapel and Pope Leo was elected, she immediately said, “Mon Dieu. The Pope has a Chicago accent!”
Our birthdays were only a day apart, which made our connection feel even more natural. My birthday will feel different this year without her. She wrote to me every year with the same message: “Happy birthdays, cupcake. And we soldier on.”
What Margo Howard Taught Us
Margo Howard’s life was defined by curiosity, generosity, and a belief that every person has something worth hearing. Her columns reached millions, but her personal letters reached hearts. She showed us that wisdom doesn’t require grand gestures — sometimes it’s found in a note, a cup of cocoa, or a simple observation about the world.
“Lotta ways to live your life.” — Margo Howard
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Margo Howard? Margo Howard was an American advice columnist and author, daughter of Eppie Lederer (Ann Landers). She wrote for Slate’s Dear Prudence before launching her own column, Dear Margo.
How old was Margo Howard when she passed away? She was eighty-six years old at the time of her passing in August 2026.
What was Margo Howard’s relationship to Ann Landers? Ann Landers was Margo Howard’s mother, Eppie Lederer. Margo carried on the family tradition of advice writing through her own columns.
What book did Margo Howard write about her marriages? She authored Eat, Drink, & Remarry, a memoir chronicling her four marriages to a Hollywood actor, a Boston cardiologist, and others.
Where did Margo Howard live? She lived in Chicago for many years, where she became one of the city’s most elegant and respected columnists.
