Dr. Laura Schlessinger
She preaches, teaches and nags her callers
on more than 440 radio stations across North America about irresponsibility, immoral behavior and indifference, urging them to act with courage, conscience and character. Despite this counter-culture message, Dr. aura’s listeners swelled to more than 15 million in five years - the fastest
growth of a syndicated radio show ever.
“My show is not about mental health,” she says. “It’s about moral health. I don’t give advice. I give my never-to-be-humble opinion,” she laughingly adds.
Her opinion is unfailingly consistent with the moral and ethical teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition which she embraces unapologetically. She stresses the importance of religion in her life and recommends that her listeners re-commit to the religious tradition of their upbringing, or embrace one in their adult life, as she has done.
Not a religious show, her radio program reflects her belief that everyone has a responsibility to make the world a better place. Her contribution is to reaffirm the importance of traditional morals and ethics in guiding the everyday decisions of average Americans.
Decisively cutting across the grain of today’s political correctness, she believes that couples should wait until marriage to have sex. She is anti-abortion, except to save the life of the mother. She is against divorce when kids are involved, unless one spouse has a drug or alcohol addiction, commits adultery or is violent. She also believes that children should be cared for by their parents, rather than surrogates.
A forceful children’s advocate, Dr. Laura stresses that their welfare must be their parents’ top priority. By welfare, she means their emotional, spiritual and moral development, not just their economic well being. Her efforts in this area were recognized by Childhelp USA with the “Children’s Friend” award in 1996 and the “Love of a Child” award in 1998.
To further help children, in 1998 she established “The Dr. Laura Schlessinger Foundation,” which reaches out to abused and neglected children and strengthens families. The most notable success to date is the “My Stuff” bag program. Several thousand individual bags have been filled with blankets, toys, toiletries, books, etc., and delivered to crisis care centers across the U.S. and Canada for children removed from dangerous home situations. Since these children, typically, don’t have time to gather their belongings before they are taken to centers, the “My Stuff” bags are a great comfort upon their arrival.
Dr. Laura also reaches people through millions of copies of her best-selling books, including, Parenthood by Proxy, Don’t Have Them if You Won’t Raise Them (2000), The Ten Commandments: The Significance of God’s Laws in Everyday Life (1998), Ten Stupid Things Men Do to Mess Up Their Lives (1997), How Could You Do That?! The Abdication of Courage, Conscience and Character (1996), and Ten Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Lives (1994). She also authors a children’s book series that includes Why Do You Love Me? (1999), But I Waaannt It! (2000), and Growing Up is Hard (2001).
She is the editor-in-chief of her own monthly magazine, Dr. Laura Perspective. The magazine is an extension of her radio program that allows for discussion on morals, values and ethics at greater depth. It is also an opportunity for other experts to contribute to the dialogue.
Dr. Laura has been featured on national television shows such as The Oprah Winfrey Show, A&E Biography, Larry King Live, Dateline, Lifetime’s Intimate Portrait, The Today Show, CBS This Morning, 48 Hours, Good Morning America, Meet the Press with Tim Russert, ABC This Week, The O’Reilly Factor among others. She has also been featured in major newspapers and magazines, including Time, People, The New York Times Magazine, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and US News and World Report.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Dr. Laura received her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from SUNY Stonybrook, and her master’s and doctorate in physiology from Columbia University. She holds a post-doctoral certificate in Marriage, Family and Child Counseling (MFCC) from the University of Southern California.
Dr. Laura has taught numerous courses at the University of Southern California, Pepperdine University, University of California Los Angeles, and University of California Irvine.
She shares her success and her life with husband Dr. Lewis G. Bishop and their son Deryk.
Click here to visit Dr. Laura's website.
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