From the passage, the reader can infer a. margo now writes the "dear abby" column, too. b. lederer started "ann landers" to compete with "dear abby." c. margo was angry her mother didn't pass "ann landers" on. d. publication of "ann landers" ceased in 2002.

few people probably would have guessed that identical twin sisters esther "eppie" pauline friedman lederer and pauline “popo” esther friedman phillips would grow up to become two of the most influential advice columnists in the world. “dear abby” and “ann landers” were both known by their millions of daily readers for their quick wit and sage wisdom.
the pair grew up in sioux city, iowa and attended morningside college where they both worked on the newspaper staff. in 1939, at the age of 21, the friedman sisters married in a joint ceremony. the original “ann landers” was started in 1942 by a nurse named ruth crowley. she wrote the column until her death in 1955. after she won a contest, esther lederer assumed the “ann landers” pen name and eventually won the copyright to it.
pauline phillips founded “dear abby” in 1956. a rift between the twins developed when life magazine reported that phillips had offered the column to the sioux city journal at a discounted rate if it agreed not to run “ann landers.” although they publicly reconciled in 1964, it is said the bitter rivalry continued behind closed doors for decades. in 1995, phillips began to suffer from the onset of alzheimer’s disease and her daughter, jeanine, assumed the abigail van buren pen name. “dear abby” has been in publication for more than 50 years and still read daily by more than 110 million people.
lederer was in good health most of her life and wrote “ann landers” until her death in 2002. she chose not to have another writer assume the pen name. jeanine phillips wrote a tribute to “ann landers” in “dear abby” shortly after her passing. lederer’s daughter, margo howard, said the women had not been in contact for years, and she believes phillips just wrote the tribute for money.
howard wrote an advice column of her own called “dear prudence” for several years. currently, she pens “dear margo.”