Thanks, Flagpole readers, for the opportunity to read and answer your questions. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you and your troubles over the past year and a half, and I hope I’ve helped some of you. A special thanks to readers who wrote in to share their take on the questions and problems posed in the columns.

My other (non-advice-column) job and my life are demanding more of my time and attention now, though, so I’m going to leave you in Flagpole’s capable hands. If you have a problem you just can’t solve, remember my catch-all advice: Treat people kindly, stand up for yourself, and keep on saving for retirement.  

Editor’s Note:

Our thanks to Rhonda for her consistently good advice delivered punctually weekly with tactful consideration of those needing help. Rhonda has been unfailingly concerned to offer her guidance not with condescension but with concern for those seeking answers and solutions to “life’s persistent questions.” It’s not easy to come up with good advice when somebody asks, especially every week and on deadline, when all you have to go on is a brief description of a problem from somebody who probably is not objective about the matters being discussed.

That’s why we appreciate the job that Rhonda has done for Flagpole and our readers weekly, and we join her in hoping that this advice has been of assistance to those who have sought it. Best of luck, Rhonda, and thanks for all your level-headed help.

What’s Next?

Now that Rhonda has moved on, what should happen to this column? Maybe it’s time to retire it. Maybe all the instant advice from friends on Facebook has made a newspaper advice column obsolete. What do you think? Let us know at [email protected].

If the advice column is obsolete, what should take its place? What do you think readers would like to see on the Flagpole back page?

If the advice column still has some pertinency, do you know anybody who would like to give it a try? Would you like to take over the advice column? If you know somebody, send us contact info. If you would like to write advice, send us some samples of how you would do it.

This is an opportunity for Flagpole and our readers to decide how best to use this available space, and we are open to suggestions. Send us your ideas and your sample columns and help Flagpole figure out what to do next.

And thanks for the advice.