For more than a decade, Ruth Westheimer has been making a name for herself talking about sex.
Popularly known as "Dr. Ruth," she talks to the elderly, to single adults, to married couples. She talks to people of all ages, shapes and sizes. And from this experience counseling people, she has made a key determination.
The people change. The sex does not.
"The questions that I get are not any different from the questions that I got 15 years ago — about loneliness, about specific sexual questions," she said with her distinctive German accent. "What is different is the vocabulary. People are asking much more explicit questions." Recently, Westheimer — the mother of a Princeton alumnus — has shifted her focus to advising college students. This evening, she will be appearing at the U-Store at 7 p.m. to promote her new book, "Dr. Ruth's Guide to College Life."
Westheimer said students in a college environment face many stressful issues. She said she believes her book and advice make her uniquely qualified to guide college-age youths through this trying time.
When she counsels college students, Westheimer said she tries to address all those obstacles and talk "not just about sex." But she quickly added, "Of course, I talk also about sex."
She said her book discusses loneliness, roommates, drugs, alcohol and eating disorders.
"It's not a textbook," she explained. "It's just common sense, typical of the way I see what could be helpful."
She also talks about students' relationships with parents. She joked about returning to one's room at home, only to find the "room has been taken over. There's a study suddenly."
Westheimer — who earned a Doctor of Education degree from Columbia University — is the author of more than a dozen books on sex and relationships, most notably among them "Sex for Dummies" and "Dr. Ruth's Encyclopedia of Sex."
Her radio career began in 1980 with her own 15-minute show on a local station. Since then, Westheimer has made numerous TV and radio appearances.
Westheimer said she is busier now than ever before — giving lectures and writing and publicizing books.
Prolific author
She has another book on the way — "Rekindling Romance" — which, appropriately, will be released on Valentine's Day. "It's not enough to be sexually literate, you also have to work . . . on the relationship," she said.
She is also the author of "Heavenly Sex: Sex in the Jewish Tradition" and a member of the advisory board of the University's Jewish studies program.
It could not be more clear that Westheimer enjoys what she does. "I'm the only person in the whole wide world whose books make babies," she joked.
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