{"id":24397,"date":"2026-08-01T18:06:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T13:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=24397"},"modified":"2026-08-01T18:06:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T13:06:48","slug":"remembering-margo-howard-npr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=24397","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Margo Howard : NPR"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"storytext\">\n<div id=\"resg-s1-136687\" class=\"bucketwrap image large\">\n<div class=\"imagewrap has-source-dimensions\" data-crop-type=\"\" style=\"&#10;        --source-width: 2085;&#10;        --source-height: 2118;&#10;    \">\n        <picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/2085x2118+0+0\/resize\/400\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F43%2F95e0ce1d4075a228d40de153e8fa%2Fgettyimages-177371900.jpg 400w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/2085x2118+0+0\/resize\/600\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F43%2F95e0ce1d4075a228d40de153e8fa%2Fgettyimages-177371900.jpg 600w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/2085x2118+0+0\/resize\/800\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F43%2F95e0ce1d4075a228d40de153e8fa%2Fgettyimages-177371900.jpg 800w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/2085x2118+0+0\/resize\/900\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F43%2F95e0ce1d4075a228d40de153e8fa%2Fgettyimages-177371900.jpg 900w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/2085x2118+0+0\/resize\/1200\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F43%2F95e0ce1d4075a228d40de153e8fa%2Fgettyimages-177371900.jpg 1200w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/2085x2118+0+0\/resize\/1600\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F43%2F95e0ce1d4075a228d40de153e8fa%2Fgettyimages-177371900.jpg 1600w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/2085x2118+0+0\/resize\/1800\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F43%2F95e0ce1d4075a228d40de153e8fa%2Fgettyimages-177371900.jpg 1800w\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/2085x2118+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F43%2F95e0ce1d4075a228d40de153e8fa%2Fgettyimages-177371900.jpg\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1025px) 650px, calc(100vw - 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30px)\" class=\"img\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/2085x2118+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/50\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F43%2F95e0ce1d4075a228d40de153e8fa%2Fgettyimages-177371900.jpg\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/2085x2118+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F43%2F95e0ce1d4075a228d40de153e8fa%2Fgettyimages-177371900.jpg\" class=\"img\" alt=\"Portrait of the advice columnist Ann Landers and her daughter Margo Howard, January 1, 2003.\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\n        <\/picture>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"credit-caption\">\n<div class=\"caption-wrap\">\n<div class=\"caption\" aria-label=\"Image caption\">\n<p>\n                Portrait of the advice columnist Ann Landers and her daughter Margo Howard, January 1, 2003.<br \/>\n                <b class=\"credit\" aria-label=\"Image credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                    Michael L Abramson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>                <\/b><br \/>\n                <b class=\"hide-caption\"><b>hide caption<\/b><\/b>\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <b class=\"toggle-caption\"><br \/>\n              <svg class=\"icon icon--info\"><use href=\"#icon-info\"\/><\/svg><br \/>\n              <b>toggle caption<\/b><br \/>\n            <\/b>\n    <\/div>\n<p>    <span class=\"credit\" aria-label=\"Image credit\"><\/p>\n<p>        Michael L Abramson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>    <\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Margo Howard was the person you&#8217;d hope to be seated next to at a dinner party, to hear her purr anecdotes and observations about all the other guests.<\/p>\n<p>When it was reported this week that Margo had died at the age of 86, a lot of coverage was understandably about the years she wrote the Dear Prudence advice column for <em>Slate<\/em>, and then another called Dear Margo. Advice was her family business, after all; Margo&#8217;s mother, Eppie Lederer, spent nearly 50 years writing the widely syndicated column Dear Ann Landers.<\/p>\n<p>I met Howard when I was a young Chicago reporter, and she was a glamorous Chicago columnist. There is a famous story about a party of Chicago journos who repaired back to Howard&#8217;s place one snowy night, where she invited them to plop their snow-crusted coats in her bedroom. While she heated up some cocoa, I&#8217;m sure. A guest who apparently did not know her family background pranced out, howling, &#8220;Margo, Margo, how delicious! You have a picture of Ann Landers in your bedroom!&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside id=\"ad-backstage-wrap\" class=\"ad-wrap backstage\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Howard later wrote a hilarious memoir, &#8216;Eat, Drink, &amp; Remarry&#8217;, about her four marriages, including to a Hollywood actor and a Boston cardiologist, all of whom she wrote about with affection and respect.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What good is experience,&#8221; she told me once, &#8220;if you can&#8217;t learn from it?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;d hear from Howard every few weeks, usually right after our show. She&#8217;d share some pearl of gossip, or tell how Herschel, her dog, loved one of our stories. One week she listened and wrote, &#8220;I heard your Minnesota farmers and Seder in Nepal. Lotta ways to live your life, no?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The details of those stories have left me, but Howard&#8217;s sage observation hasn&#8217;t: &#8220;Lotta ways to live your life.&#8221; Yes\u2026<\/p>\n<p>She&#8217;d also drop a line now and then just to ask about my family: &#8220;How are The Beauties?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Once Howard sent me a check to pass along to someone we&#8217;d interviewed who had been burned out of their home. She wrote, &#8220;I don&#8217;t think they need more kind words as much as this.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The night white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel to herald Pope Leo&#8217;s election, Margo exclaimed, &#8220;Mon Dieu. The Pope has a Chicago accent!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Our birthdays were within a day of each other. My next one, while blessed, will seem a little lonelier without Howard around to bid me, as she did year after year, &#8220;Happy birthdays, cupcake. And we soldier on.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Portrait of the advice columnist Ann Landers and her daughter Margo Howard, January 1, 2003. Michael L Abramson\/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Michael L Abramson\/Getty Images Margo Howard was the person you&#8217;d hope to be seated next to at a dinner party, to hear her purr anecdotes and observations about all the other guests&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/2085x1173+0+473\/resize\/1400\/quality\/85\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F43%2F95e0ce1d4075a228d40de153e8fa%2Fgettyimages-177371900.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}