What’s not to like? She born Karola Ruth Siegel in Karlstadt, Germany on June 4, 1928. Picture taken before she moved to US and before she spoke a word of English. She is 2 months older than my own Mom. She is a year older than Anne Frank, who was born in June 1929. I met her in 2004 but was thrilled to get her alone for a breakfast in October 2014 in Tarrytown, NY.
People are always surprised that she is not just diminutive but 4’7″–yes, 4’7″–and that she was once a trained and active sniper in Israel. An explosion and serious injuries abruptly ended that phase of her life. (She says she was a good shot.) She is playful, and says provocative things. She of course is culturally liberal but surprisingly conservative in some respects politically.
I asked her near the end of breakfast if I could get her anything else but within seconds 2 waiters and a busboy were fawning over her with the same question and she told them what she wanted. A victorious and beaming server brought it to our table. Some famous people might have been embarrassed at the fuss made over her. She smiled mischievously at me and just said: “It’s nice to be Dr. Ruth.”