Ann Landers

Douglas Cooper and George O'Brien speak to columnist Landers by telephone from her home in Chicago. She had just returned from a trip through The People's Republic of China, as a guest of the American Medical Association.

The Interview

Cooper asked what had impressed her, and she was quick to say it was the tremendous advances the eight hundred million Chinese had made under Mao, who they revered. She felt that 98% of the populace had benefited psychologically, educationally and in health services in "modern" China.

Cooper brought the subject back to her office at The Sun-Times. "The column goes to 810 papers around the world". Landers said she receives 1000 letters a day, and she works on them with a staff of 8 plus her consultants at Harvard, The Mayo Clinic and The Menniger Clinic, as she realizes that, "Often my column is all that a reader takes in. And the letters and answers have to have broad application." She tries to educate, and often answers young people, who would not share a personal topic with their mother.

I congratulate her on being willing to quote a letter stating, "Dear Ann Landers, you are out of your mind!” She laughs and says that sometimes she'll get an array of letters telling her that she gave the wrong advice to an inquiry. She appreciates that, and will
write that she was incorrect and undo the error.

Asked for a letter that stood out, she tells about a man who wrote wanting to be buried in his 1937 Dodge, because it was the most important thing in his life. He wasn't looking for her comment, he wanted to know if it was legal. So she phoned her son-in-law, an undertaker, and he said that as long as it fit with the constitution and by-laws of the cemetery, then the only problem was space. "He'll have to buy three plots, because a '37 Dodge takes up a lot of ground."

Behind the Scenes

Two days after the Landers show ran, I got a call at the office. It was Barry Farber's show calling to ask where they could get hold of Ms. Landers. It was salutary to learn that one of the kings of New York late-night had caught our broadcast and needed a tip from us.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Douglas P. Cooper Distinguished Contemporaries Collection (1967-1974) contains rare interviews with influential writers, statesmen, artists, songwriters, journalists and others who have left their mark on our culture.

The Origins of The Cooper Collection

WNYC archives id: 92216