New York: Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the diminutive sex therapist who became a pop icon, media star and best-selling author thanks to her frank talk about once-taboo bedroom topics, has died . She was 96 years old.
Dr. Ruth Westheimer.Credit: AP
Westheimer died Friday at her home in New York City, surrounded by her family, according to publicist and friend Pierre Lehu.
Westheimer never advocated risky sexual behavior. Instead, he encouraged open dialogue about previously closed topics that affected his audience of millions. His one recurring theme was that there was nothing to be ashamed of.
“I still have old values and I'm a little square,” he told students at Michigan City High School in 2002. “Sex is a private art and a private matter. But still, it's a matter of which one should we talk about”.
Westheimer's lilting, German-accented voice, along with her 4-foot frame, made her an unlikely outlet for “sexual literacy.” Contradiction was one of the keys to his success.
Dr. Ruth talks to rock singer Cyndi Lauper in New York in 1985.Credit: AP
But it was his extensive knowledge and training, along with his humorous and non-judgmental manner, that catapulted his local radio show, “Sexually Speaking,” into the national spotlight in the early 1980s. He had an open minded approach to what two consenting adults were doing in the privacy of their own home.
“Tell him you're not going to start,” he told a concerned person in June 1982. “Tell him Dr. Westheimer said you're not going to die if he doesn't have sex for a week.”
His radio success opened new doors, and in 1983 he wrote the first of more than 40 books: Guide of Dr. Ruth for good sex, demystifying sex with rationality and humor. There was even a board game, Dr. Ruth's Good Sex Game.
