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Dr. Ruth Westheimer dead at 96: Sex therapist who became pop icon, media star and best-selling author passes away at her NYC home
Daily Mail UK ^ | July 13, 2024 | Bethan Sexton

Posted on 07/13/2024 9:15:43 AM PDT by Morgana

Renowned sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer has died at the age of 96.

Westheimer died on Friday at her home in New York City, surrounded by her family, according to publicist and friend Pierre Lehu.

The diminutive sex therapist became a pop icon, media star and best-selling author through her frank talk about once-taboo bedroom topics.

Westheimer never advocated risky sexual behavior but encouraged an open dialogue on previously closeted issues that affected her audience of millions.

Her one recurring theme was there was nothing to be ashamed of.

'I still hold old-fashioned values and I'm a bit of a square,' she told students at Michigan City High School in 2002. 'Sex is a private art and a private matter. But still, it is a subject we must talk about.'

Westheimer's giggly, German-accented voice, coupled with her 4-foot-7 frame, made her an unlikely looking — and sounding — outlet for 'sexual literacy.' The contradiction was one of the keys to her success.

But it was her extensive knowledge and training, coupled with her humorous, nonjudgmental manner, that catapulted her local radio program, 'Sexually Speaking,' into the national spotlight in the early 1980s.

She had a nonjudgmental approach to what two consenting adults did in the privacy of their home.

'Tell him you're not going to initiate,' she told a concerned caller in June 1982. 'Tell him that Dr. Westheimer said that you're not going to die if he doesn't have sex for one week.'

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


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To: Morgana

She’d been old since 1985.


41 posted on 07/13/2024 1:17:48 PM PDT by Preachin' (I stand with many voters who will never vote for a pro abortion candidate.)
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To: Morgana

She was an amusing embarrassment. She looked like Aunt Bea, or the Yenta who matched your parents together, but she spoke like a mixture of Freude and The Happy Hooker.
This was her stage age, and it made her quite wealthy.


42 posted on 07/13/2024 1:37:03 PM PDT by lee martell
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To: lee martell

age = act


43 posted on 07/13/2024 1:38:32 PM PDT by lee martell
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To: Morgana

I hope she went out with a bang.


44 posted on 07/13/2024 1:38:56 PM PDT by nesnah (Infringe - act so as to limit or undermine [something]; encroach on)
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To: Morgana

Richard Simmons just died as well, just one of those days


45 posted on 07/13/2024 1:39:59 PM PDT by Sarah Barracuda
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To: Sarah Barracuda

That’s crazy. I just looked him up. Dead at 76.


46 posted on 07/13/2024 1:43:04 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: Morgana

AMEN.....EXCEPT for the RIP!! Mother Angelica’s way of life was SUPERIOR to that SEZ FREAK RUTH!!


47 posted on 07/13/2024 2:32:37 PM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: Morgana

And Robin Williams (NSFW)
https://youtu.be/sN5MH57wuu4?si=3WuZW0bPgvSHUBFq


48 posted on 07/13/2024 4:00:55 PM PDT by Ladybird99
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To: nickcarraway

*Who is Don Chamberlain?*

70’s-SF talk. He decided to do sex talk and got popular for a while.


49 posted on 07/13/2024 4:53:34 PM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: Ann Archy; Morgana
I was only in grade school when all the sudden Dr. Ruth was everywhere. Can someone explain to me why that happened? Just the novelty of an old women talking about sex? Big deal.

Also, it seemed like it was about the same time as Richard Simmons becoming popular.

I applaud her for surviving the Holocaust, but I don't understand the sudden celebrity.

For my money, Clara Peller was a much more entertaining old lady from that era. Remember her?

50 posted on 07/13/2024 5:42:21 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Hmmm, never heard of him. Do you know what channel?


51 posted on 07/13/2024 5:47:49 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

just his obit:

https://bayarearadio.org/people-2/don-chamberlain_obit


52 posted on 07/14/2024 7:42:08 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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