Dr. Ruth Westheimer (Photograph Courtesy: Harald Bischoff, CC BY-SA 3.0, through Wikimedia Commons)
NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) – Internationally identified intercourse therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer handed away Friday (July 12) peacefully at her house in New York Metropolis, surrounded by her two youngsters. Information of her loss of life was confirmed to a number of media retailers through her publicist, Pierre Lehu. A reason for loss of life was not disclosed. She was 96.
Recognized to hundreds of thousands as “Dr. Ruth,” Westheimer grew to become a family identify together with her distinctive mix of wit, heat, and knowledge, delivered in her distinctive German accent. She was a tireless advocate for sexual training, serving to to demystify and normalize discussions about sexual wishes and practices.
Born in Germany in 1928, Dr. Ruth was despatched to Switzerland at age 10 on the eve of World Conflict II to flee the Nazis. She believed her mother and father had been murdered at Auschwitz since she by no means noticed them once more – a tragedy that profoundly influenced her life and work. As an adolescent, she moved to Jerusalem and skilled as a sniper with the Haganah, a Zionist militant group.
Westheimer later studied in Paris earlier than immigrating to New York Metropolis, incomes a level from Lecturers School at Columbia College. Her first radio present, “Sexually Talking,” debuted in New York in 1980 and shortly gained a nationwide following. This success led to her tv present, “The Dr. Ruth Present,” on the Lifetime community, the place she continued to supply candid recommendation on taboo sexual matters.
All through her profession, Dr. Ruth authored over 37 books and appeared on quite a few tv reveals, at all times encouraging her viewers to “have good intercourse.” She remained a vibrant and lively determine in public life nicely into her 90s, lately serving as New York state’s honorary ambassador to loneliness.
Dr. Ruth’s contributions prolonged past her skilled work. She was a devoted Museum of Jewish Heritage member and actively participated in Holocaust remembrance occasions. In her 2015 guide, The Physician Is In: Dr. Ruth on Love, Life, and Joie de Vivre, she wrote, “To permit the enjoyment to come back entrance and heart in your life, you additionally must really feel your feelings, even the unhappy ones. You must mourn; let the tears pour out. If you happen to bottle the disappointment in, the enjoyment will get bottled proper together with it.”
Dr. Ruth Westheimer leaves a legacy of compassion, training, and joyful dwelling. Her forthcoming guide on loneliness, set to be launched posthumously in September, is a testomony to her enduring impression on hundreds of thousands of lives.
She is preceded in loss of life by her third husband, a fellow Holocaust survivor who lasted 36 years, Manfred “Fred” Westheimer, who handed away in 1997. Two youngsters and 4 grandchildren survive her.
RIP.