49°F
weather icon Cloudy

Dr. Ruth Westheimer, pioneering sex therapist, dies at 96

NEW YORK — Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the diminutive sex therapist who became a pop icon, media star and best-selling author through her frank talk about once-taboo bedroom topics, has died. She was 96.

Westheimer died on 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, she 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.

MOST READ
In case you missed it
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
Israel says Hezbollah agent targeted in Beirut suburb strike

Yemen’s Houthi terrorists claimed Tuesday that they shot down another American MQ-9 Reaper drone, as the U.S. kept up its intense airstrikes targeting the group.

Israeli military orders the evacuation of Gaza’s southern city of Rafah

Israel’s military issued sweeping evacuation orders covering Rafah and nearby areas, indicating it could soon launch another major ground operation in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city.

Israeli strikes continue in Gaza as Palestinians mark end of Ramadan

Israeli strikes Sunday morning killed at least 16 people, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, as Palestinians in Gaza marked the usually festive Eid al-Fitr.

MORE STORIES