Tragedy strikes the Westheimer family. Dr. Ruth Westheimer passed away only a month after she reached 96 years old.
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Recently, her family released a statement, informing news outlets and the rest of the world of her sad death. "The children of Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer are sad to announce the passing of their mother, the internationally celebrated sex therapist, author, talk show host, professor, and orphan of the Holocaust," they say.
Ruth leads quite a momentous, journeyed life. However, the Holocaust marks her early life, with memories of seeing her father head to a Nazi labor camp. "They took my father downstairs and before he went into the truck he turned around and smiled and waved despite the fact that he must have been horrified," Westheimer says in her documentary.
Unfortunately, this turbulent time sends Ruth to orphanage in Switzerland in order to protect the family's only daughter from the dangerous environment. This would be the last time she'd see her parents. After a while, Ruth stops receiving letters from her family after they were sent to Auschwitz.
Dr. Ruth Westheimer Finds Fame as 'Sex Therapist' After Rough Childhood During Holocaust
Westheimer continues moving around, changing her first name for protection, and marrying a couple of men on the way that never works out, she finds her way in New York City. She learns English by going to school and devouring romance novels.
Eventually, Ruth works in Planned Parenthood in East Harlem. There, she realizes the gaping void in how people discuss sex with one another. After working as an expert in her field, she confidently works on an NBC radio station for a show titled 'Sexually Speaking.' "I thought she had the perfect voice to talk about these subjects because she sounded grandmotherly and had the perfect attitude," her radio manager Betty Elam Brauner recalls. "She could say things and people would be shocked, but they wouldn't be offended by it."
Skepticism and all, people still tuned in. Inevitably, her fearlessness in erasing the taboo of sex brings her to the world of television. Then, she heads her own show on Lifetime, 'Good Sex!' Additionally, Ruth frequently visits Johnny Carson, Arsenio Hall, and David Letterman over the years.
Ultimately, Ruth's greatest strengths are her empathy and her capability of emphasizing love and compassion for your partner. She works hard back in the 80s to alter the aggressive perception of LGBTQ people and the AIDS crisis. Moreover, she sheds the trivial embarrassment of sex. "Dr. Ruth took the shame out of sex, by emphasizing love and pleasure in its place, and she had that great giggle," columnist Anka Radakovich expresses. "She influenced a whole new generation of women to pursue the field."
