artd-l FAQ version 1.1 / Part 4
Hell Toupee
about Dr. Laura Schlessinger
--------------------------
(4.1) Who is 'Dr. Laura'?
--------------------------
Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a radio talk show personality
whose show is syndicated throughout the United States,
Canada, and several other countries. Callers to the show
ask for help with their moral dilemmas and receive her
views on their personal situations. DL says she doesn't do
therapy, nor does she offer advice - she describes her
mission as to 'preach, teach, and nag' her callers into
making proper decisions leading to more moral lives.
Personal and professional information about
Laura Schlessinger:
Born 1947 in Brooklyn, New York.
Family: father Monroe 'Monty' Schlessinger (deceased),
mother Yolanda Ceccovini,
sister Cyndi Harris,
husband Lewis G. (Lew) Bishop,
son Deryk Schlessinger.
BS, Biological Sciences, SUNY.
Ph.D., Columbia University, 1974.
Licensed in 1980 as a California Marriage, Family
and Child Therapist (MFCC) License MB14914.
AASECT Certified Sex Therapist.
Assistant Professor, Biological
Sciences, USC (1976-1981).
Clinical Instructor, Human Relations
Center, USC (1979-1981).
Adjunct Professor of Psychology, Graduate
School, Pepperdine University (1981-1989).
Private Practice: 1981-1993.
------------------------------
(4.2) Is she really a doctor?
------------------------------
DL received her Ph.D. in physiology from Columbia
University in 1974. Her dissertation shows her area of
research was insulin receptors in rat cells. ("Effects of
insulin on 3-0-methylglucose transport in isolated rat
adipocytes.")
---------------------------------------
(4.3) So what's a physiologist? I hear
it's a glorified gym teacher.
---------------------------------------
The On-Line Medical Dictionary
http://www.graylab.ac.uk/omd/index.html
defines it as "One who is versed in the science of
physiology; a student of the properties and functions
of animal and vegetable organs and tissues."
It has nothing to do with gym class (except
Perhaps any physiologists in the field of sports
medicine.)
----------------------------------------
(4.4) I thought she was a psychiatrist/
psychologist/psychotherapist?
----------------------------------------
Nope. Physiology is a biological science, not a behavioral
science. DL does have a Marriage, Family, and Child
Counseling certificate (MFCC.) She describes it as
'post-doctoral', yet it is only 'post' in that she got
it after she'd earned her Ph.D. Technically, postdoctoral
education is assumed to be at the doctoral level or
higher, and the MFCC is not. Furthermore, the MFCC is not
a continuing or related course for physiology. Thus, DL's
describing it as 'post-doctoral' gives a faulty impression.
MFCC's can be earned at the Master's level. Read a more
detailed explanation from TJ, an artd-l poster and lawyer
who has looked into this issue, at
http://extra.newsguy.com/~satire/LauraLaw.htm
--------------------------------------------------
(4.5) Well, if she's really a Ph.D., what's wrong
with her calling herself 'Dr.' Laura?
--------------------------------------------------
It is misleading and not very ethical to use a degree
in one field to imply authority in a completely
unrelated field. As a self-proclaimed 'prophet'
'on a mission' one would think she'd be scrupulous
about taking the moral and ethical high ground herself.
Since she proudly describes herself as 'my kid's mom'
perhaps she could find in that role a more appropriate
(and relevant) title for her show.
An article in the December 30, 1997 Washington Post
reported the results of a survey conducted by the
Benchmark Co., which found that "...75 percent of
Schlessinger's listeners think she is a psychologist,
psychiatrist or therapist. She is nothing of the sort.
The "Dr." label comes courtesy of her degree in
physiology, ... Only 3 percent of those surveyed knew
the truth."
('Cable's Cavalcade Of Sound 30 Channels of Music,
Minus the Personality' by Marc Fisher, Washington
Post Staff Writer, Tuesday, December 30, 1997; Page C01)
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/30/017l-123097-idx.html
--------------------------------------
(4.6) What's the story on her mother?
Her sister?
---------------------------------------
DL has several time told callers to her show
that Deryk has no grandparents. In truth, Lew's
father is still alive, and so is DL's own
mother. DL hasn't spoken to her mother for 14 years
(as of 1998.) She is also estranged from her
sister Cyndi. She's given several different
accounts for this.
Schlessinger claims that her mother walked out
on her job as her secretary after Laura suggested
she learn to type.
('Diagnosing Dr. Laura', by Leslie Bennetts,
Vanity Fair, September 1998)
"She just evaporated." Laura told People magazine
four years ago, in an interview in which she also
described her mother as "filled with negativity..
...She blamed everyone for her unhappiness."
But back in 1984, Schlessinger explained the breach
somewhat differently: "I retired my mother from my
office," she said in a letter to Ballance.
('Diagnosing Dr. Laura', by Leslie Bennetts,
Vanity Fair, September 1998)
A brief, failed marriage in her 20s and icy relations
with her family members--her mother broke off contact
with her over a decade ago and she is estranged from
her sister; she says that both have rebuffed her
reconciliation attempts--didn't help Schlessinger's
peace of mind.
(No Whining! U.S. News & World Report, 7/14/97)
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/970714/14laur.htm
I did not grow up in a happy, healthy home...
When my sister and I became adults, our different
styles of coping with these familial challenges
resulted in our having little in common. After our
parents divorced, the stresses worsened to the point
where all four of us evolved into completely isolated
entities... My mother and sister still prefer to be
disengaged from each other as well as from my family.
My door is open.
("Find happiness you missed as child"
by Laura Schlessinger 07/01/97)
http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/news/070197/drlaura.html
...She couldn't speak for her mother, she said.
Why did everyone presume that not speaking to her
mother was her choice? "I've been beaten over the
head with this as if it were my fault," she said.
"As if it were my failing. It's a loss in my life.
It's my agony." ...Her voice trembled. "Where's my
failing in that? I think it's quite noble. It shows
how responsible I am."
("Commentary: Dr. Laura, don't blame writers
for your rude behavior" by Laura Berman
/ The Detroit News, 03/20/97)
http://detnews.com/1997/accent/9703/20/03200089.htm
The following statement of DL's seems
especially ironic considering she claims
it's her sister and mother who've cut off
communication. It tends to make one wonder
just what did she did to cause them to shun her.
Dr. Laura advocates old-fashioned -- make that
medieval -- strategies for altering the behavior
of others. In Dr. Laura's world, it's perfectly
fine to snub those who fail to live up to your
high standards. "I love shunning," she says cheerfully.
"It reminds people they have an obligation to others."
("Dr. Laura explains it all" by Laura Berman /
The Detroit News October 18, 1996)
http://detnews.com/1996/menu/stories/70170.htm
--------------------------
(4.7) Her husband and son?
--------------------------
DL has been married twice. After getting her
doctorate at Columbia, she married "a very
nice guy I shouldn't have married." It lasted
2 1/2 years ("26 minutes in my mind"), and there
were no children.
('Dr. Laura explains it all', by Laura Berman,
The Detroit News 10/18/96)
http://detnews.com/1996/menu/stories/70170.htm
After moving to California, DL began seeing
Lew Bishop, a professor of neuro-physiology
and married father of three. Lew eventually
divorced his wife. According to DL friend
Shelly Herman, DL and Lew lived together for
about nine years before marrying. At some point
in their relationship DL had her tubal ligation
reversed and underwent fertility treatment in
an effort to conceive. Shelly Herman claims
DL was pregnant when she married Lew, which
DL denies.
DL gave birth to her only child, her son
Deryk Schlessinger, on or about November 5, 1985.
Note Deryk has his mother's last name -
something DL tells other people not to do.
Deryk is listed as creative consultant for
his mother's magazine, The Dr. Laura
Perspective, as well as being regularly
mentioned on his mom's show.
------------------------------------------
(4.8) I heard a rumor about DL's son
and the family home burning down...
------------------------------------------
A hot rumor, but unconfirmed. DL's prior home in
Westwood burned down. Posters have reported
various accounts of how the fire started: an
electrical fire; a defective snake terrarium heater;
Deryk playing with matches; Deryk starting a fire
in a garbage can.
------------------------------------------------
(4.9) What's DL's view on religion in marriage?
------------------------------------------------
DL believes that any sexual relationship is immoral
unless is it part of a covenant with God. She
has also stated that love isn't enough to hold together
a marriage and family, that "<religion is> another
glue that holds a family together and keeps
a child from confusion."
She opposes mixed-faith marriages on the grounds
that it leads to confusion in the children and
discord in the marriage.
However, DL and Lew had a mixed-faith marriage until
Lew converted to Orthodox Judaism in early 1998.
---------------------------------------
(4.10) When did DL convert to Judaism?
When did Lew convert to Judaism?
---------------------------------------
DL had been raised without religion. She
considered herself an atheist until she
developed an interest in Judaism (her father had
been a non-practicing Jew)in 1991 or 1992.
After an unpleasant encounter with a "female rabbi"
at a Reform temple, as Dr. Laura put it, she "found
her Judaism" - with the help of a "male rabbi" at a
Conservative synagogue.
('Sparks Fly in Texas After 'Dr. Laura' Does Dallas'
by Jonathan Mahler)
http://www.forward.com/BACK/97.03.21/news2.html
DL underwent a halahkic conversion (to Orthodox
Judaism, according to several accounts)in
1996 (some sources say 1994 or 1995.)
In 1998 she, Lew, and Deryk all converted to
Orthodox Judaism.
Lew was an Episcopalian before deciding (or agreeing)
to convert. He started the process in 1995 with his wife
and son. DL and Deryk finished in 1996, but in an article
published that year Lew admitted he had not completed the
conversion and did not seem eager to do so. DL told the
author that her husband *had* converted.
('The Just-Do-It Shrink', New York Times Magazine,
November 17, 1996)
-----------------------------------
(4.11) Did DL really have an affair
while she was married?
-----------------------------------
Yes, while married to her first husband she
began a relationship with radio talk show
personality Bill Ballance. She has claimed the
relationship was no more than a mentoring one
featuring a few lunches. When interviewed for
the Vanity Fair article Ballance refuted this
claim, stating they'd had a passionate two-year
affair until she left him for Lew Bishop. DL
and Lew began their relationship while Lew was
still married to his first wife.
When she arrived in California in the mid-1970s,
she was only separated; Ballance says he had been
dating her for months before he discovered she had
left a husband back East.
('Diagnosing Dr. Laura', by Leslie Bennetts,
Vanity Fair, September 1998)
At the time, Schlessinger was working in a lab
at the University of Southern California next
to Lew Bishop, a tenured neuro-physiology
professor and father of three. They are vague
about when their relationship began; first they
insist Bishop was already divorced, but later
Schlessinger concedes he had just separated.
('Diagnosing Dr. Laura', by Leslie Bennetts,
Vanity Fair, September 1998)
----------------------------------
(4.12) Did DL really pose for nude
photos?
----------------------------------
In late October 1998, Internet Entertainment
Group (IEG) purchased from Bill Ballance a set
of nude and semi-nude photos of a 28 year-old DL.
IEG posted the photos on the website
www.clublove.com and were immediately served
with a temporary restraining order forcing
them to remove the photos from their website.
Too late; numerous individuals had already
downloaded the photos and were posting them
on other websites and Usenet newsgroups.
A spokeman for DL told the press that the photos
were fake. In the injunction, DL stated that the
photos were not of her, but that she owned the
copyrights to them. A few days later it was
reported that she finally acknowledged the
photos were of her.
Interviewed on the Tom Lykis show, Bill
Ballance explained why he released the
the nude photos:
The fact is she has been stealing my material
for so many years. The fact is she told so many
lies about our relationship. An example being our
being together just a week or two and that she was
on my show just a few days, or a few times rather.
She was on my show for two and a half years. We went
together for a torrid two and a half years. I'm tired
of being lied about and the longer it goes on the more
people believe her. They'll think I'm the interloper.
People will begin to assume that I was the beginner
and that she taught me everything I know.
("Los Angeles Radio People", October 26, 1998)
http://www.laradio.com/current.htm
------------------------------------------
(4.13) What are DL's views on infertility
treatment, pregnancy, and adoption?
------------------------------------------
DL reconsidered her own tubal ligation,
reversed the surgery, and underwent
infertility treatment in an effort to
conceive. This effort included
experiencing an ectopic pregnancy
before finally conceiving Deryk.
...What followed was surgery to reverse the tubal
ligation, then "major pain and agony," as she
pursued fertility. Finally, almost ready to quit,
she conceived: her son Deryk, 10, is responsible
for her slogan, "I am my kid's mom."
("Dr. Laura explains it all", by Laura Berman,
The Detroit News 10/18/96)
http://detnews.com/1996/menu/stories/70170.htm
However, she doesn't recommend this for anyone else.
Callers asking her views on pursuing infertility
treatment for themselves are instead told to consider
adoption.
DL believes children should only be conceived
within marriage. She tells single women and
homosexual couples who want children to adopt
older, hard-to-place children and let
infants be adopted by traditional families.
DL opposes abortion unless it is necessary to save
the mother's life.
I never go home saying, "Gee, I shouldn't have said no
abortion,' maybe abortion is right in that circumstance,"
because I'm anti-abortion. So, there would be no circumstance
other than saving a woman's life --and I have had that call,
and I told a woman to abort, because there was a good
chance she was going to die.
('The Moral Is the Message' San Francisco
Chronicle, Sep 28, 1997)
-----------------------------------------
(4.14) DL is a working mom but comes down
hard on working moms. What gives?
-----------------------------------------
DL claims that after Deryk was born she spent
the first several years as a stay-at-home mom.
She glosses over the fact that for the first
few years after his birth she still had her
home knitting business, her radio show, and
her private practice. She of course still has
her radio show and also travels to interviews
and promotional events. When pressed about this,
she insists that Lew and she arrange their
schedules so that Deryk always has a parent
at home.
However, Laurie Saunders (a radio personality)
claims in the Vanity Fair article that when DL's
radio show on KFI ran from 9 to midnight, DL
often brought Deryk along to the station where
he ran around unsupervised.
She has said that mothers (sometimes 'parent',
but most often 'mothers') can work after the
children start school, so long as they can
arrange the schedule so there's always a parent
home when they come home from school. DL has
said she's not against working moms, she's
against daycare (she has compared the
use of nannies to using prostitutes.)
DL dismisses claims of financial need, saying
families can find ways to get by on one income.
-----------------------------------
(4.15) What's the controversy about
DL's views on circumcision?
-----------------------------------
Visit the Daphne's Corner FAQ
http://www.net-quest.com/~wizard/daphne.html
and scroll down to question number 16: 'What's the
story with Dr. Edell and Dr. Laura?' for transcripts
of the shows where DL claimed those who oppose
circumcision are anti-Semitic. The circumcision war,
by the way, is a recurring one which pops up on
newsgroups across Usenet with depressing regularity.
If you want to debate circumcision in general
(rather than DL's view on it in particular)
please take it to alt.circumcision.
------------------------------
(4.16) Has DL changed her view
on homosexuality?
------------------------------
DL was formerly tolerant of homosexuality,
but over time her views on the subject
slowly became more in line with the
conservative religious elements of
society.
Finally, on her show airing August 6, 1998,
Laura proclaimed that "homosexuality is destructive"
She also said that her former tolerance regarding
Gays was inappropriate.
(DL radio show, 8/6/98 at ~2:12:00)
On the Oct. 22, 1998, she told a lesbian caller
that Leviticus, etc. states her "lifestyle" is
"a sin" and "unholy." (Caller had a partner of
six years.) She made a positive statement about
Exodus, saying they helped "some" people through
Prayer.
------------------------------------
(4.17) What's the 'Dallas Incident'?
------------------------------------
In March of 1997 DL had a speaking engagement
in Dallas before the women's division of the
Jewish Welfare Federation. Her behavior while
in Dallas shocked and offended those who
encountered her, and was reported by Maryln
Schwartz in the Dallas Morning News. It made
national news, DL had a crying fit on her
show the next day, and even cancelled her
upcoming appearance as Queen Esther in the
Atlanta Purim Parade. Read the original and
follow-up columns about this at
http://either.or.com/~chansen/least-fav/dallas1.html
--------------------------------------------
(4.18) I've heard DL used to be on the board
of a skeptics' organization.
--------------------------------------------
DL had been on the board of 'Skeptic' magazine.
She had been invited onto the board due to her
skeptical stance on repressed memories (supposed
long-buried memories recovered during therapy.)
In October 1997 Dr. Laura faxed 'Skeptic'
this statement announcing her resignation
from its board. "Science can only describe
what; guess at why; but cannot offer ultimate
meaning. When man's limited intellect has
the arrogance to pretend an ability to analyze
God, it's time for me to get off that train."
------------------------------------------------
(4.19) How long has Laura been in the radio biz?
------------------------------------------------
DL's break into the radio biz was from calling the
Bill Ballance show, which apparently occurred in
1974 (accounts vary, reconciling accounts makes
this the most likely year.) Bill put her on his
show, then she eventually got her own radio show.
In 1994 her show was syndicated nationally.
--------------------------------------
(4.20) What happened to Larry Metzler?
To Ernestia O'Steen?
To the former Webmaster of her
website?
--------------------------------------
Larry left the show in November 1997. In
DL's words "...and Larry Metzler...well, he's
off to climb another mountain somewhere else."
Ernestia O'Steen got married and left the
show in the spring of 1998.
On 6/28/98 a message was posted to artd-l stating
that DL had fired 'Joyce' the single stay-at-home
mom who was webmaster of the offical DL website.
The poster claimed the reason for the firing was
to increase the website's revenue by decreasing
the size of the message forum (moderated, which
is a labor-intensive job) in preference of
increasing the advertising space on her site,
and thus increasing the revenue from it.
----------------------------------------------
(4.21) What's with her feud with Howard Stern?
----------------------------------------------
DL pulled out of negotiations for a tv series
with Eyemark Entertainment, a CBS television
syndication subsidiary, when Eyemark announced
plans for a weekly television show starring
Howard Stern, to start in August 1998.
"It's true," she told Michael Starr of the
New York Post last week. "I thought it was
morally incompatible programming to have
Eyemark developing and distributing shows
so divergent."
('Dr. Laura Won't Take On The Day With CBS-TV')
http://www.radiodigest.com/news/1998/nat_041098_cbs-tv_dr_laura.htm
Ironically, she hasn't applied this standard
to the radio stations broadcasting her show,
nor to the publisher of her books, nor to
setting up her own website even though she
condemns the Internet. For that matter, she
didn't apply this 'moral incompatability'
standard to her appearance on Oprah to promote
her book - although Oprah is 'shacking up'.)
At any rate, this precipitated or escalated a
feud with Howard Stern, which has been running
hot ever since.
--------------------------------------------
(4.22) So, what're DL's show ratings? Is she
bigger than Rush? Bigger than Stern?
--------------------------------------------
It depends upon who you talk to and how the numbers
are tallied. In spring 1998 'Talkers', a trade
publication for the radio industry, put Dr. Laura
number 1 with a weekly national listenership average
of 18 million, followed by Stern at 17.5 million,
with Rush in third place with 17.25 million.
(New York Daily News Online, 3/17/98)
http://mostnewyork.com/Archive/98_03/031798/new_york/51562.hta
However, this report was hotly disputed.
There are a number of complicating factors to
Consider, such as the number of stations a show
is carried on, and the audience demographics.
Arbitron reported Rush as still number 1.
Then again, Rush is carried on the largest
number of stations, followed by DL, with
Stern far behind.
---------------------------------
(4.23) What's her connection with
'Hooked on Phonics'?
---------------------------------
The creator of 'Hooked on Phonics' is John
Shanahan, who was also co-owner (with DL)
of Synergy Broadcasting Inc., which last
year sold the rights to DL's show to
Jacor for about $71 million.
(Source, LA Times 11 September '97)
At one time DL's show ran ads for the
product featuring her son Deryk.
--------------------------------------
(4.24) Why do you call DL a hypocrite?
--------------------------------------
From Webster's: "a person who pretends to be
what he is not; one who pretends to be better
than he really is, or to be pious, virtuous,
etc., without really being so."
In a 1996 interview with DL (before details about
her past became public), she recalled her past
to the reporter in terms suggesting she'd
been an upright and responsible person.
...By the time she arrived in graduate school
at Columbia University in the late '60s, "I felt
very out of sync with my peers," she recalls.
"They were into drugs and protesting. I wasn't.
I was into learning my science and being a
responsible citizen."
("Dr. Laura explains it all", by Laura Berman,
The Detroit News 10/18/96)
http://detnews.com/1996/menu/stories/70170.htm
But two years later, when details of her past
made news, DL resorted to the very cop-out she
harshly criticizes her callers for using to
explain in her syndicated newspaper column
why she erred in her own past:
I have been quite open about that fact that
being in college in the '60s had some impact
on me - secular feminism was the religion of
the day. Since I came from an "inter-faithless"
marriage, I was not brought up with the concept
of divine absolute morality, to which I have
evolved only as an adult, culminating in the
conversion of myself, my husband and our son
to Orthodox Judaism.
(DL's syndicated newspapers column,
Sunday, September 6, 1998)
Perhaps DL should take her own counsel:
Oh puhleeese. Do you really believe that
only those people graced with great genetics,
perfect parentage, and ideal social conditions
can and will behave with character, courage,
and conscience?
('Character, Courage, and Conscience',
by Dr. Laura Schlessinger,
from the Dr. Laura Newsletter)
------------------------------------------------------
(4.25) But she doesn't do any of those things
anymore, so who cares if she used to?
-------------------------------------------------------
First, there are indeed some ongoing issues
DL hasn't addressed yet. For example, her
estrangement from her mother, going so far
as to publicly claim that Deryk (her son)
hasn't any grandparents when in fact he has.
For another, there's the issue of her denying
the nude photos were of her, then finally
admitting they were. Laura has harsh words
for liars. There's also the issue of her
decrying mixed-faith marriages when her own
husband only recently converted to her
own faith.
Many posters compare DL's situation with that of
a drug addict who cleans up and then tells
others not to do drugs. What's so hypocritical
about that?
artd-l poster Eric, da Red comments
on this comparison:
"In the example above, the ex-addict begins
with the statement: I was a drug addict.
This already puts him ahead of DL, who continues
to deny or gloss over the stickier (sic)
episodes of her life.
The ex-addict also tells kids about the
bad results from his flawed decisions.
DL doesn't do this, either. All of her
"sinning," even if she admitted to it, doesn't
appear to have had any negative results
for her. Indeed, sleeping with Bill
Ballance was essential to her
beginning in the radio business.
So, we are left with a moral advisor
who (a) sinned lustily, (b)enjoyed it,
(c) profited from it, (d) denies it,
and (e) tells other people not to do
what she did.
Hippo. Crit."
------------------------------------------------
(4.26) What do you people expect from her, a
public apology? An admission of misdeeds?
------------------------------------------------
If she's going to make a public spectacle of her
self-proclaimed superior morality, yes. It's fair
to hold her to the standards she sets for everyone
else. Alluding frankly but non-explicitly to
her own mistakes would certainly add tremendous
impact to her message. Adopting a more humble and
compassionate persona would be another approach.
DL has backed herself into a moral corner: by refusing
to grant quarter to her callers, she can't expect
it for herself.
This ends Part 4 of artd-l FAQ version 1.1