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Remembering a pioneering sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

Before Dr. Ruth, it seemed little old ladies never, ever talked frankly about sex.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RUTH WESTHEIMER: The main thing for you, Joan (ph)...

JOAN: Yes.

WESTHEIMER: ...Is to have an orgasm.

RASCOE: Ruth Westheimer, the acclaimed sex therapist, died yesterday at the age of 96. And what a life she had. She was born to an orthodox Jewish family in Germany who sent her to a Swiss orphanage in order to escape the Holocaust. Her parents were killed in Nazi camps. Westheimer was educated at the Sorbonne. She helped fight for Israel's independence and was trained as a sniper. As an adult, she moved to New York and began teaching human sexuality at several different universities. In 1980, her media career began with a local radio show, "Sexually Speaking."

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

WESTHEIMER: Good evening. This is Dr. Ruth Westheimer. Right here, 97 WYNY...

RASCOE: And Dr. Ruth became a pop culture icon. With her tiny frame and thick accent, she disarmed people who found sex talk shameful or taboo. She was a frequent guest on late-night TV, and while she was entertaining and kind of adorable, Dr. Ruth was focused on educating, not titillating. Here she is speaking with "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

WESTHEIMER: The way you can talk about reading, writing, arithmetic, you can also talk about sex. And if you do it in good taste, and if you do it properly, then it can be - everything can be talked about.

RASCOE: That's Ruth Westheimer, Dr. Ruth, who died yesterday in New York at the age of 96. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Ayesha Rascoe is a White House correspondent for NPR. She is currently covering her third presidential administration. Rascoe's White House coverage has included a number of high profile foreign trips, including President Trump's 2019 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, and President Obama's final NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. As a part of the White House team, she's also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast.