Ruth Westheimer, who as Dr. Ruth offered frank and funny sex advice, has died

Ruth Westheimer, the German-Jewish psychologist who enlightened and entertained radio, television and newspaper audiences for more than two decades with her frank, funny and warm advice on sexual matters, has died. She eventually wrote a widely distributed newspaper column, “Ask Dr. Ruth,” and more than two dozen books, including a pop-up book for preschoolers and kindergarteners that straightforwardly addressed basic questions about sex. “Once you’ve talked sex with Dr. Ruth,” Washington Post media critic Tom Shales once asked rhetorically, “can it ever be as good with anyone else?” “It was like getting advice from a favorite aunt or respected adult,” Dr. Laura Berman, a Northwestern University sex therapist who appears on her own cable show on the Oprah Winfrey Network, told The Times. Every show ended with Westheimer’s exuberant command, “Have good sex!” In 1982, she made her local television debut on New York City’s Channel 5 with a daily morning call-in show called simply “Dr. But, Berman noted, “That’s about all people could handle at the time.” Berman especially gave Westheimer credit for promoting safe-sex education in the late 1980s, when the AIDS epidemic was unfolding.