David R. Reuben (born November 29, 1933) is a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

, and author. He is most famous for his book '' Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)''.

Early life

Reuben was born in Chicago, and entered the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, at 15. Reuben was graduated from

University of Illinois College of Medicine The University of Illinois College of Medicine offers a four-year program leading to the MD degree at four different sites in Illinois: Chicago, Peoria, Illinois, Peoria, Rockford, Illinois, Rockford, and formerly Champaign–Urbana metropolitan a ...

, at 25. He had only one year of a psychiatric residency, and no record of further training or specialty certification.

Career

He worked at

Cook County Hospital The John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County (formerly Cook County Hospital) is a public hospital in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is part of the Cook County Health and Hospital System, along with Provident Hospital of Cook County and ...

, then the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

, then opened a clinic in

La Presa, California La Presa (Spanish for "The Dam") is a census-designated place (CDP) in the East County region of San Diego County, California, United States. The population was 34,169 at the 2010 census, up from 32,721 at the 2000 census. La Presa belonged to ...

. He let his California license lapse in 1976. Reuben was a frequent guest on ''The Tonight Show'' with

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six Pr ...

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...

's "Everything you always wanted to know about Jack Benny, but were afraid to ask" featured Reuben. The

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

filed a $35-million libel suit against Ruben.

Works

He changed his name, from Rubin to Reuben. shortly before writing ''Everything'', published in 1969. That book inspired a film by

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

, '' Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)'' (1972). Reuben also authored other books about sex, such as ''Any Woman Can!'' and ''How to Get More out of Sex'', as well as about diet and nutrition. These books suggest we should live by these three principles: Eat no refined sugar, eat no white flour, and do not take vitamin pills or other supplements. His book ''The Save Your Life Diet'', promoted a high-

fiber Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...

diet. Reuben suggested that a healthy diet involved the intake of natural fiber and reduction of

cholesterol Cholesterol is any of a class of certain organic molecules called lipids. It is a sterol (or modified steroid), a type of lipid. Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells and is an essential structural component of animal cell mem ...

.Starker, Steven. (2009). ''Oracle at the Supermarket: The American Preoccupation With Self-Help Books''. Transaction Publishers. p. 132. He also authored ''The Save Your Life Diet High-Fiber Cookbook'', and ''Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Nutrition''. The last book was written in the same style as his famous book ''Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex''.

Personal life

In 1999, Reuben and his wife Barbara lived in Costa Rica. In 1999, they were married for 37 years and had five children.

References

External links

CNN article about Reuben from 1999
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reuben, David 1933 births Living people American relationships and sexuality writers American male non-fiction writers Diet food advocates High-fiber diet advocates