Happy Birthday, Dr. Ruth!

Psychologist Dr. Ruth Westheimer is a brave woman. She grew up in a Swiss orphanage after her parents were taken by the Nazis in Germany. At age 17 she moved to Jerusalem and fought in the Israeli War of Independence. (And she's only 4 foot six inches tall!) After the war she moved to Paris to study psychology at the Sorbonne University. After graduating, she moved to New York City, received her doctorate at Columbia, and became the most famous sex therapist alive today.

Here are just a few of the books she has written:

Westheimer, Ruth K, and Groat D. De. Dr. Ruth Talks to Kids:
Where You Came From, How Your Body Changes, and What Sex Is All About. New York: Aladdin, 1993. Print.

Westheimer, Ruth K, and Steven Kaplan. Power: The Ultimate Aphrodisiac. Lanham, Md: Madison Books, 2001. Print.

Westheimer, Ruth K, and Jonathan Mark. Heavenly Sex: Sex in the Jewish Tradition.
New York: New York University Press, 1995. Print.

Westheimer, Ruth K. Sex for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, 1995. Print.

Westheimer, Ruth, and Gil Sedan. Shifting Sands: Bedouin Women at the Crossroads. New York: Lantern Books, 2009. Print.

Westheimer, Ruth K, and Ben Yagoda. The Value of Family:

A Blueprint for the 21st Century. New York: Warner Books, 1996. Print.

"Life is waiting . . . "

Spielberg, Steven, Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci, Chi McBride, Diego Luna,
Janusz Kawinski, and John Williams. The terminal. [United States]: DreamWorks Home Entertainment, 2004.

For the first time in my life, I had to report to jury duty. It wasn't a bad experience at all. Everything was very well-organized, the people were friendly, the room was comfortable, and I got to watch The Terminal on a large screen TV. There weren't enough trials to go around, so they sent most of us home in the afternoon. I hope they invite me back next year!

The Terminal is a fantastic comedy about a lovable man from Eastern Europe (the Tom Hanks character) who finds himself stranded at JFK International Airport. Although though he can barely speak a word of English, he makes lots of friends and even scores himself a date with a wonderfully flighty flight attendant who is played by Catherine Zeta-Jones.


It's a little corny, but I love the part when the airport workers set up a make-shift fancy restaurant for Tom and Catherine's dinner date.

ps. Did I mention that before I became a librarian, I was a Pan Am flight attendant?

Pan Am, Dick Clark, and Jesse Jackson

About 20 years ago, I had a brief career as a Pan Am flight attendant. (After the company declared bankruptcy, I left to go to grad school.) It was a great experience. I got to visit some amazing places and meet a lot of fun people.


I also had the honor of serving legendary politicians, Geraldine Ferraro and Jesse Jackson. (They both looked exhausted, so I left them alone and let them sleep. I would never ask a passenger for an autograph.)

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Photography by John H. White

ps. I also got to meet Dick Clark!

Joe Jackson

Hey TLC Team!
Thank you so much for the Amazon gift certificate. I just used it to buy this wonderful Joe Jackson CD. (One of my few regrets in life is that I gave away my entire vinyl collection when I became a flight attendant.)