The Ruth Westheimer that fellow residents of her Manhattan apartment building knew was much the same person known to America as Dr. Ruth: gregarious, funny, peppy and apt to throw out a provocative question in the elevator.
“She was the most well-loved person who lived here,” said Geoffrey Katin, 81, a longtime resident of the building, in Washington Heights.
Dr. Westheimer, who died on Friday at 96, was America’s best-known sex therapist.
But her explicit and direct advice, delivered in a casual and jovial manner, was not just for the cameras.
Neighbors enjoyed bumping into her in the building, never certain how she might strike up a conversation.
Persons:
Ruth Westheimer, Ruth, ”, Geoffrey Katin, Westheimer, Peter Sparrow
Locations:
Manhattan, America, Washington Heights