Dr. Ruth is congratulated by son
Joel and daughter Miriam | WASHINGTON HEIGHTS Y
Sexiest Grandma In America
Celebrates Happy Birthday Text and Photo by Tim Boxer  UTH WESTHEIMER retiring? Sat it ain’t so. Actually the legendary sex therapist was calling it quits after 11 years as president of Washington Heights Y. So on her 75th birthday 261 members and supporters came to install a new slate of officers and lift a toast to “the sexiest grandmother in America,” as former Mayor David Dinkins put it.
“Dr. Ruth touches many people’s lives,” Dinkins noted, “even if it is below the belt.” Standing by proudly were her children: son Joel, a professor of education at Ottawa University, and daughter Miriam, the New York-based director of Hebrew University’s Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Children. Westheimer reiterated her favorite story about a fellow German native, Henry Kissinger, who also grew up in this neighborhood in the farthest stretch of northern Manhattan. Upon meeting Golda Meir, Kissinger said, “I have to tell you I am an American first, secretary of state second, and a Jew third.” “That’s okay,” she replied. “We read from right to left.” “Today,” Westheimer added, “I am going to read my age from right to left.” In any case, she is not bothered with age. “To me,” she said, “old age is always 15 years older than I am.” | 
