Marie Manning was an American newspaper columnist and novelist active during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She achieved lasting recognition in the history of journalism by creating the first newspaper advice column, "Dear Beatrice Fairfax," in 1898. This innovative feature established a new relationship between publications and their readers, offering personal guidance and establishing a format that would be widely emulated in the decades to follow.
Manning's work with the "Dear Beatrice Fairfax" column served as the direct precursor to modern advice columns, paving the way for famous later iterations such as "Dear Abby" and "Ann Landers." Beyond her pioneering work in journalism, Manning was also an active novelist, contributing to the literary landscape of the early twentieth century. Through her dual career as a columnist and fiction writer, she left a significant mark on American media and popular culture.
