"Iowa-born Eppie Lederer was first hired by the Chicago Sun-Times to take over the daily advice column in 1955--and over the next half-century she helped shape the nation's social and sexual landscape. Already a fiercely independent housewife and political activist, she reinvented herself as 'Ann Landers, ' went on to become America's beloved 'surrogate mother, ' and was one of the country's most influential women. The friend and confidante of celebrities, journalists, and politicians, she composed columns that touched the lives of so many--even as her own life was shaken by dramatic, often heartbreaking events"--Publisher description.