First advice columnist was New Orleanian

Dorothy Dix debuted an advice column for The Daily Picayune in the mid-1890s. Dix was the nom de plume of Elizabeth Gilmer, who first sold a story to the paper in 1886.

As she recuperated from a nervous breakdown, Elizabeth Gilmer had a chance meeting with Picayune owner Eliza Jane Poitevent Holbrook Nicholson, also known as Pearl Rivers, and sold her a story for $3. That story, “How Chloe Saved the Silver,” was published on Dec. 5.

Gilmer soon joined the staff of the newspaper, and in the 1890s, she began writing a column, adopting the pseudonym Dorothy Dix.

Dix gained worldwide fame for her advice to the lovelorn through her column, “Dorothy Dix Talks,” which was eventually syndicated and attracted an audience of 60 million readers. She  became the highest-paid female writer in the world.

n a famous 1898 column, titled, "The Selfishness of Men," Dix denounced the actions of the men aboard the sinking Bourgogne, who prevented women and children from using the lifeboats. Only one woman aboard the ship survived.

Dix’s column gained a huge following among both men and women, and it paved the way for other advice columnists. She
left New Orleans for New York in the early 1900s, but after about 15 years she returned to New Orleans and resumed her work at The Picayune.

One of her most popular columns was her “10 rules for happiness,” which was reprinted many times. At the height of her fame, she received more than 1,000 letters a day from readers.

Dix died at Touro Infirmary in 1951 at the age of 90.