Helen Gurley Brown

American writer and editor of "Cosmopolitan" magazine. She was a depression-era child whose dad died in an accident when she was ten. Brown was a pale, flat-chested and acned youth. She wrote stories and poems, put on school programs, gave dance lessons and worked on the school paper, graduating in 1939 as class valedictorian. From 18-25, she worked as a secretary. In 1948, Brown was promoted to executive secretary, then copyright editor, then account executive. On her way up the business ladder, she moved to Los Angeles and never wanted to leave. She met her future husband, David, there and spent her honeymoon there; she wrote "Sex and the Single Girl" in L.A, She remarked that "People are kinder here than in New York; it's beautiful and halcyon and not as tough as New York." Sounding like the single girl's guru, she added, "You can love two cities, and you can love two men" Brown was a single girl herself until she was 37. She said, "By the time I got married, I was ready to be faithful. And I was lucky. He's a decent, kind man, and a pretty good friend." Husband David was a member of a publishing firm. When he suggested that she write a book, she came up with her famous "Sex,,,,,;" it was a runaway best-seller in 1962. Brown authored three more books before taking over the Editor-in-Chief position at "Cosmopolitan" in 1965. In Los Angeles, David went into film production of such hits as "Jaws I and II." During the time that she was editing Cosmo and David producing films, they had a bicoastal marriage. They are both work-centered but gregarious, with an active social life when they are together and dedicated to a trust-based relationship. In New York, they live in a four-story apartment she describes as "voluminous." They also own a cluster of homes in Southampton that they lease. Compulsive about keeping fit, Brown exercises for an hour faithfully every morning and watches her diet carefully, customarily eating tuna or chicken salad for dinner. She pampers herself with massages, beauty treatments and designer clothes but still maintains that brains, not beauty, are a woman's best asset. In 1982 she wrote "Having It All: Love, Success, Sex, Money," a breezy gossip and advice book on a woman's job, make-up, diet and sex life. At 71, she is still the penultimate Cosmo-girl, glamorous, svelte, high chic and a veteran of cosmetic surgery on her nose, eyes and face. She wrote "The Late Show: A Semiwild but Practical Survival Plan for Women Over 50." She died at the McKeen Pavilion at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia, Manhattan, New York on 13 August 2012. Link to Wikipedia biography