AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Before Dr. Ruth, it seemed little old ladies never, ever talked frankly about sex.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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