Dean Phillips: 5 things to know about Biden's Democrat challenger
4. His grandmother was the advice columnist behind the “Dear Abby” column
The American Jewish World highlighted Phillips’ upbringing in its 2018 profile on the then-candidate. The publication detailed how Phillips’ biological father was killed in the Vietnam War while he was an infant, with his mother getting remarried to Eddie Phillips in 1972. Eddie Phillips’ mother, Pauline, wrote an advice column titled “Dear Abby” under the pseudonym Abigail Van Buren for many years. Her daughter, Jeanne, Dean Phillips’ aunt, is now the author behind the “Dear Abby” column.
Phillips has credited his late grandmother with helping to shape his desire to “help people,” recalling how she would send him and his brother letters she would receive from children. “She would share them with me for perspective,” he said. “She really did her due diligence. By reading these letters I had a great deal of empathy for so many of my age around the country that didn’t have people to turn to, that didn’t have friends or family that would understand or accept the challenges they faced.”
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“In no small part it illuminates my drive to help people,” Phillips added. He stressed that his grandmother’s goal “wasn’t to be a celebrity, her mission was to help people.” The then-congressional candidate defined seeking to “help people” as “the family business.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
