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r.i.p.
August 13, 2012

Helen Gurley Brown, 1922–2012, Went Everywhere

By Kat Stoeffel

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Photo: Everett Collection

Helen Gurley Brown, author of Sex and the Single Girl and influential editor of Cosmopolitan, died this morning at New York–Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, according to a release from the Hearst Corporation. She was 90. Named editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan in 1965, Brown is credited with saving the magazine from Hearst’s chopping block by introducing frank cover lines, hunky centerfolds, and content that focused on sexual and professional empowerment.

Brown was often quoted saying that “good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere,” and her “fun, fearless” vision of femininity did, in fact, travel far and wide. With dozens of editions distributed in more than 100 countries, Cosmopolitan is one of the most popular magazines in the world. Brown served as editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan International up until her death. Her influence will extend beyond her death, both ideologically and materially: this year, Brown donated $30 million to Columbia and Stanford Universities for a joint journalism and technology institute, Columbia Journalism School’s largest gift ever. Her husband of 51 years, David Brown, died in 2010. 

Sources

Romenesko
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January 23, 1965  Photo: Bettmann/Corbis
January 23, 1965  Photo: Bettmann/Corbis
January 23, 1965  Photo: Bettmann/CORBIS
January 23, 1965  Photo: Bettman/Corbis
Circa 1965  Photo: Santi Visalli/Getty Images
September 8, 1975  Photo: Ron Galella/WireImage
December 6, 1976  Photo: Ron Galella/WireImage
Circa 1977 
Circa 1980's  Photo: Fotos International/Archive Photos/Getty Images
Circa 1980's  Photo: Louie Psihoyos/Corbis
Circa 1980's  Photo: Betty Galella/WireImage
March 4, 1982  Photo: Ron Galella/WireImage
December 7, 1982  Photo: Bettman/Corbis
October 29, 1989  Photo: Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage
March 25, 1991  Photo: Ron Galella/WireImage
January 30, 1995  Photo: Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage
October 20, 2003  Photo: Matthew Peyton/Getty Images
November 1, 2004  Photo: Nancy Kaszerman/ZUMA/Corbis
November 3, 2004  Photo: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage
March 14, 2011  Photo: John Lamparski/Getty Images
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  • helen gurley brown
  • cosmopolitan
  • obituary
  • hearst
  • r.i.p.
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