Joyce Brothers (1927-2013)

Joyce Brothers died May 13, 2013, at age 85, in Fort Lee, New Jersey. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 20, 1927. To the public, Joyce Brothers was the best known psychologist of her time. Brothers's influence on the media, and psychology, was considerable and varied. She became the public face of psychology. As her ascendency as a media psychologist progressed, she reinforced the ideas that a PhD psychologist is called "Doctor"; that a woman can create a career in the field and also raise a family; that there are psychological insights about human behavior that everyone can understand; and that psychologists are not always wearing laboratory coats or talking to people who lie on a couch, but can be lively, engaging, understandable, fun, and down-to-earth people. One might speculate that Joyce Brothers brought a lot of young women into careers in psychology. Brothers created an amazing career which she pursued with style and grace. Stepping outside of a traditional psychological career sometimes drew fire from the profession, in line with frequent criticism of popularizers in psychology and other fields.