Editor’s Note: A longtime journalist, Margo Howard went into the family business (her mother was the fabled Ann Landers) in the 1990s as Dear Prudence. Her broad experience and understanding of human nature provide answers for the troubled — and entertainment for everyone else. Margo’s advice column, Dear Margo, appears twice a week — on Thursdays and Fridays — on wowOwow.com. Here she recalls her most memorable interview moments. Click here for the most memorable on-the-record moments from the wOw Women. 

One of my "unforgettables" was Jimmy Hoffa, just out of the clink. I was the last and only newspaper person to get to him before he was offed – and I wasn’t even a hard news reporter. I got to him in a crazy way. One of the investigative guys at my paper, The Chicago Daily News, suggested the way to get to him was through the head of the Teamsters’ Union in Chicago. I somehow got him on the phone and told him I was a feature writer and really wanted to talk about Hoffa’s "being out" and what it was like to be "in." He kept saying no, Hoffa wasn’t giving interviews, and for some reason I just kept going with him so we could keep talking. At some point something clicked and he said, "Are you Eppie Lederer’s daughter?" I said yes. Well, he had gone to high school with Mother in Sioux City, IA, and of course he knew who she was professionally. (Because, c’mon, Sioux City, IA?) I wish I could remember his name, but I can’t. (This was decades ago, and I was maybe 30.) He said, "I will help you," and that is how I got to be the last reporter to speak to Hoffa. Of course, all he wanted to talk about was prison reform, but at least it was an interview.
 
I also had a doozie of an interview with Shelley Winters, where she wanted to end the interview when I asked if she were the "inspiration" for "Same Time Next Year." She started to holler and said she didn’t know this was going to be "that kind of an interview." I somehow kept the conversation going (apparently my strong suit); she didn’t throw me out. The interview continued. The way I knew that she was the inspiration was that I knew the playwright, Bern Slade, and he told me. For you young ‘uns who don’t know the story of that play, it is about two former lovers who meet every Christmas Eve to … well, relive the good old days.