Flickered out

While the name Sy Wexler may not ring a bell, harken back to those days of darkened classrooms and flickering 16-mm films and you’ve no doubt sampled his work. Wexler died at the age of 88, leaving behind a film library that includes such edge-of-the-seat thrillers as Squeak the Squirrel, Fire Science, Clinical Applications of Microporous Tape and The Case of a Persian Student With Painless Hemoptysis. Wexler helped baby boomers make sense of their bodies from the cradle to the grave, with Teeth Are for Life, How a Hamburger Turns Into You, Early Marriage, Happy Family Planning, Venereal Disease: Why Do We Still Have It?, Fertilization and Birth, Smoking and Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure and Congestive Heart Failure. In the days before internet porn, Wexler’s films were where most kids learned their sex education.