Amy Dickinson will stop giving advice for Ithaca Journal, WaPo and papers across US

Advice columnist and author Amy Dickinson announced an end to her Ask Amy column in its latest entry, published today.

“After 21 years writing the “Ask Amy” column, I’m announcing that I’m leaving this space,” she wrote. “My final column will run at the end of June.”

The nationally syndicated advice column is carried in over 150 newspapers and read by an estimated 22 million readers daily and appears daily in the Ithaca Journal.

Taking up the mantle is Eric Thomas, formerly known for his work on the “Dear Prudence” advice column.

The 64-year-old Freeville author Dickinson announced today that she’ll continue to publish new columns and rerun some of her favorites in the meantime.

Aside from her column, Dickinson wrote both The Mighty Queens of Freeville – which went on to be a New York Times best seller - and Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things, a memoir about and love letter to small-town America.

Spreading literary love to her hometown

After stints around the country including Chicago, New York City, and even abroad to London, Dickinson moved back to Freeville to be with her mother - who was at the time nearing the end of her life - and the community that she knew could support her through divorce and single-parenthood.

“I moved back home about 16 years ago and I’ve lived here ever since,” Dickinson said. “I think people here are pretty used to having me around by now and probably want to get rid of me.”

Since she’s moved back, Dickinson had the idea to give back to the community that raised her by establishing a small free library for families and children to enjoy before and after school, now planned inside the building at 24 Main Street in Freeville, formerly a site for Finger Lakes Physical Therapy.

“My little lending library is called the Freeville Literary Society, and I mean, it's been delayed a lot, but frankly, I was sort of waiting to stop doing my day job,” Dickinson said. “I think I'm going to open next month. I'll start with a movie event and let people sort of come in, get used to the space and then I'm certain that by this fall, I'll be ready to welcome kids in after school. I'll have all my books to display and I'll be more prepared for that.”

Dickinson said her main concern is on children's books, and that she’ll be putting the word out to publishers to hopefully create a collection of books with a wide range of genres for younger audiences.

The collection will be rounded out with her own “weird collection of self-help books, novels, poetry, and other genres,” to create an “after-school study space with games, books, and a comfy atmosphere,” she said.

“Depending on what my schedule allows, I hope to be open a few mornings for parents and kids to be there together,” Dickinson said.

Past mistakes, future ventures

Her passion for her hometown and desire to bring literacy back to her community isn’t the only lesson that writing Ask Amy for over 20 years forced Dickinson to learn.

“I definitely made mistakes in the column that I don't want to dodge, but I also don't want to draw attention to specific mistakes I've made because I don't want to repeat them if that makes any sense,” she said.

“I remember when I first started out, I was very defensive about my position on things,” Dickinson said. “I was hired because I had a point of view. I was by then, you know, a very seasoned journalist and columnist but earlier on, I was defensive about my point of view and as time has gone by, I have dropped my guard. That's a very good thing.”

Dickinson said her perspective on the column shifted from "telling people what to do" to something more akin to a conversation.

“I'm glad because that's a change that I needed to make and, um, and I will say, no one has benefited from this column more than I have, because … my research on reader's behalf has sent me down endless avenues of thinking, and into therapy, which has really been very helpful,” Dickinson said. “I’ve taken an approach to my own problems that’s sort of a version of, ‘I need to sit down and write myself a letter,’ and I’ve become much more thoughtful about my own problems, I'm much less reactive, much more patient and a lot more gentle with myself and other people.”

Although she admitted Wednesday that it’s more of a fantasy than a full-fledged plan, Dickinson wrote that she’s looking forward to traveling across the country in an RV, meeting those she’s offered advice to throughout the years.

“I think, fingers crossed, somewhere on the back of my mind I'm actually hoping that when this column goes out that a sponsor will pop up and, you know, sponsor my trip,” she said. “I really would like to go around and meet people in person who have written to me over the years. I think that would be an amazing way to continue the conversation.”

This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: Ask Amy column by Freeville, NY native ending after 21 years