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Birmingham Festival
Opens Art Fair Season . . .116

U-M Festival of New Works
Features Jewish Themes . .118

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ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER
Special to the Jewish News

On the eve o f
Mother's Day,
Dr. Laura Schlessinger
urges parents to make
children their
to p priority.

he gives no-nonsense opinions on marriage,
sex, relationships and prayer. She tackles
moral and ethical issues and embraces
Judaism. She is blunt, takes a tough stance
and is considered controversial. She is talk-radio host
Dr. Laura Schlessinger, and she has a listening audi-
ence of some 18 million fans nationwide.
This month her latest book, Parenthood By Proxy:
Don't Have Them If You Won't Raise Them (Cliff Street
Books; $24), hits bookstores, and beginning in
September, she will launch a nationally syndicated
television show, airing in Detroit on WIXYZ-Channel
7. Her new, illustrated children's book, But I Waaa
- nnt
It!, (Cliff Street Books; $15.95), a story about why
we want things and what brings true happiness, also
is being released.
Although Schlessinger's combative style may raise
more than a few eyebrows, her popularity is incontro-
vertible. The Dr. Laura Show, broadcast 12:05-3 p.m.
Mondays-Fridays on VIJR-760 AM in Detroit, is the
fastest growing talk program in the history of radio.
Schlessinger says she thinks it's her "passion and
sincerity that is appealing." Still, she has received
both praise and criticism for her views. She takes a
stand against single-parenting; dual-career families;
abortion, unless to save the life of the mother; homo-
sexuality; and same-sex marriages. She is anti-divorce
when there are children involved, unless one spouse is
a drug addict, alcoholic, violent or unfaithful.
Her followers know she feels strongly about par-
ents making their children a priority. In Parenthood
By Proxy, she addresses a bevy of child rearing issues,
including daycare, which she doesn't believe in except
for temporary emergency situations.
Practicing what she preaches, Schlessinger has
worked her schedule around her son, Deryk, now age
14. That way, she says, she can be home when he is.
Schlessinger, who has authored seven books,
received a bachelor's degree from State University of
New York Stonybrook, a master's and doctorate in
physiology from Columbia University and a post-
doctoral certificate in marriage, family and child
counseling from the University of Southern
California.
Her career in radio began in the mid-1970s, when
she called in to a talk show and was so articulate, the
producer offered her a job. Since then, she's built 20
years of on-air experience.
Born to a Catholic mother and a Jewish father in
Brooklyn, Schlessinger had no formal religious train-
ing. Turning to religion as an adult, she converted
first to Judaism and then became Orthodox along
with her husband Dr. Lew Bishop, her manager and

PERFECT PARENTING

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