JN When Dr. Ruth Westheimer set her sights on becoming the Loneliness Ambassador for New York State, no such position existed. So, she enlisted the help of a state senator and began petitioning Gov. Kathy Hochul to create the role.
“As New York works to fight the loneliness epidemic, some help from honorary Ambassador Ruth Westheimer may be just what the doctor ordered,” Hochul said in a statement after confirming the appointment. “Dr. Ruth Westheimer has offered her services to help older adults and all New Yorkers cope with the loneliness epidemic and I will be appointing her to serve as the nation’s first state-level honorary Ambassador to Loneliness.”
Emmy Award-winning author and journalist Allison Gilbert spent three months interviewing Westheimer about her transition from renowned sex therapist to loneliness ambassador. The article appeared in The New York Times on Nov. 9, 2023.
“It was a wonderful series of conversations to prepare that piece,” said Gilbert. “Then after it was published, it was a great fortune to continue knowing her and begin a different kind of relationship and, completely by surprise, to collaborate with her, which was just wonderful.”
Gilbert co-authored the book, “The Joy of Connections: 100 Ways to Beat Loneliness and Live a Happier and More Meaningful Life,” with Westheimer and her media director for more than 40 years, Pierre Lehu. The book was the last project Westheimer worked on before her death on July 12, 2024.
Gilbert will “share stories that probably most people have never heard before about Dr. Ruth and we will have a chance to honor her together” when she is the guest speaker at the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix’s Power of the Purse event at 6 p.m. on Jan. 29, 2025.
With five previous book projects under her belt, Gilbert said this one “bubbled up organically.”
With her new role, Westheimer was seeking out ways to make an impact and Gilbert suggested structuring this project similarly to one of her books, “Passed and Present: Keeping Memories of Loved Ones Alive,” a “how-to” book for remembering loved ones.
“We collectively thought it would work for the type of ideas that she wanted to communicate in ‘The Joy of Connections,’” she said. “It really was just so fluid and organic how everything came together. It was wonderful.”
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