Musically Speaking: A Life Through Song (Personal Takes) [Hardcover]

Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2003 | Series: Personal Takes

"Music, I have come to realize, is for me a kind of golden thread running through my life. It has helped maintain my connection with the past that otherwise might have been severed by catastrophe and time. I am often asked—indeed, I often wonder myself—why it is that I should always have had such joie de vivre in the face of the losses and dislocations I had to endure in my early years. The answer I always gave was that the warmth and security of my early childhood had a remarkable power and influence. This is certainly true. But now I have realized that there is another part to the answer. And that is music."—from the introduction

Who among us does not have a song that triggers vivid memories—of jubilation, of belonging, of sorrow, of love? In Musically Speaking, Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer, one of America's most beloved personalities, has written a warm and contemplative book about the role music has played in her life and the ineradicable traces it has left on her thoughts, emotions, her very being.

In this memoir through song, Dr. Ruth invites us to share her story from a uniquely musical perspective. By the time she was thirty, Ruth Westheimer had lived in five countries, each with a distinctive musical culture, each with a different hold on her sensibility. For the first ten years of her life, the comforting melodies of childhood helped drown out the anthems of Nazism to be heard elsewhere in her native Germany; as an adolescent refugee in Switzerland, she came to be aware that, however loudly she sang the patriotic songs of the land that gave her shelter, she could never truly be at home there.

Present at the creation of the modern state of Israel, she sang and danced to the new music of a new nation; as a young woman eagerly absorbing all that Paris had to offer in the way of romance and worldliness in the early 1950s, the songs of Edith Piaf, Mouloudji, and Yves Montand were her tutors. An almost accidental emigration to America brought new challenges and new stability, as she became a wife, mother, and professional; tremendous and unforeseen celebrity came later, and with it the giddy opportunity to indulge her love of music as never before.

Always, the classical repertoire of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and Brahms has drawn Westheimer to a German culture that has belonged—and not belonged—to her throughout her life. And always, the music of the Jewish tradition has given her strength and comfort beyond words.

Affording a view of Dr. Ruth from a rare private vantage point, Musically Speaking offers wondrous testimony to the resilience of the human spirit. This is a book full of color, verve, humor, and wisdom, unfolding gracefully through the beloved music of the Jewish holidays, the lullabies of childhood, the songs that sustained an orphan and roused the courage of a young woman, the melodies that enable a widow grieving for her husband to recall, from deep within the years of love, companionship, and happiness.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite her tone deafness, says Westheimer, an expert in the field of human sexuality, music has played a significant role in her life. In this touching and frequently witty account, Westheimer describes how particular melodies have been meaningful to her during both sad and happy times. As a 10-year-old Jewish girl in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1938, she was accepted as a refugee in a Swiss orphanage. Although she was spared certain death in Nazi Germany, Westheimer and the other refugees were regarded as second-class citizens by the Swiss and forced to do housework instead of getting an education. One of her outlets during this harsh childhood was to sing familiar Hebrew and German songs with the other children. Play-songs like "Backe, backe Kuchen" (Bake, bake a cake) that she sang while still attending school in Germany link her to the parents she lost in the Holocaust. In the Palestine kibbutz where the author lived after the war, Jewish Agency songs, written in Hebrew, are remembered as the soundtrack to her life. Westheimer loves American musical comedy and also greatly enjoys dancing: she recalls the night she startled the audience by getting up and dancing at an Elton John concert. Even though she admits she's not knowledgeable about composers or music theory, attending classical concerts is powerful and cleansing for her-and she expresses that experience nicely in this heartfelt memoir.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Touching and frequently witty."—Publishers Weekly

"Dr. Ruth sees music as a kind of conscience. Melody is something she has measured her life on. It's an extraordinary story, her story."—Bono

"Dr. Ruth shows us how and why music functions in her life, with lessons for all of us. A real gem of a book."—Wynton Marsalis

"A wonderful book, both moving and delightful. With her customary charm and brio, Westheimer shares with us how a life can be shaped by music. Brava!"—Zubin Mehta

"Who would have thought that when Dr. Ruth finally explained the rhythm method, she'd be talking about music? To read her is to know her, to know her is to adore her."—Harvey Fierstein

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 152 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (August 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812237463
• ISBN-13: 978-0812237467
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,668,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Germany in 1928, I was sent to a children's home in Switzerland at the age of ten which became an orphanage for most of the German Jewish students who had been sent there to escape the Holocaust. At 17 I went to Israel where I fought for the country's independence as a member of the Haganah, the Jewish freedom fighters. I then moved to Paris where I studied at the Sorbonne and taught kindergarten. I immigrated to the U.S. in 1956 and obtained my Masters Degree in Sociology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School of Social Research. In 1970, I received a Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) in the Interdisciplinary Study of the Family from Columbia University Teacher's College.
My work at Planned Parenthood is what prompted me to further my education in human sexuality by studying at New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center.
My TV show Sexually Speaking first aired in 1980 as a 15-minute taped show, which then increased in popularity and became a nationally syndicated radio show.
In recent years, I have made regular appearances on the PBS Television children's show Between the Lions as "Dr. Ruth Wordheimer" in a parody of my therapist role, in which I help anxious readers and spellers overcome their fear of long words.
Currently I am an Adjunct Professor at N.Y.U. and an Associate Fellow of Calhoun College at Yale University, where I teach a course on the American family. I am also a Fellow of Butler College at Princeton University, where I will teach a course on the Jewish family. In addition to having my own private practice I am a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and frequently lecture at universities across the country.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect pitch in the song of life! ENJOY THIS BOOK!, June 9, 2009

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Greymase "Greymase" (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Musically Speaking: A Life Through Song (Personal Takes) (Hardcover)

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! This is a witty touching book. Dr. Ruth is a treasure and has a unique ability to take universal human experiences that are less often discussed, and bring them to light in a way that honors our individuality and our commonality at the same time. She makes this difficult balancing act look easy! VERY ENJOYABLE AND WORTHWHILE!