Eulogy

By Dr. Ruth Westheimer

It's not just because I am 4 ft. 7 in. that I need to stand on the shoulders of giants. When it comes to helping society move forward, we all must rely on the works of others who have come before us. Those of us who have been promoting sexual literacy have relied on the work of such giants as Alfred Kinsey, Masters and Johnson, Helen Singer Kaplan and DR. ALEX COMFORT. His book The Joy of Sex was an incredible tool that every sex therapist used at one time or another to help teach clients how to make sex fun and enjoy it to its fullest. But even more important was that The Joy of Sex could be found in every bookstore. Millions of people bought it and began to explore their sexuality in ways that they may never have done without the book. By relying on drawings rather than photos, Dr. Comfort aptly made use of his name, allowing people to check out new positions without feeling embarrassed. Couples could look at the book together, and that would lead them to talk about their needs and desires. Even if they only adopted one or two of the positions into their sexual repertoire, that added variety was enough to save a relationship that had become stagnant and boring. I would never have been able to say the things I said about sex without Dr. Comfort's paving the way ahead of me.

--Dr. Ruth Westheimer, author of Sex for Dummies