Helen Gurley Brown (1922–2012,) née Helen Marie Gurley, was an American author, journalist, publisher, and commentator on gender affairs. She was the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine for 32 years.
Born in Green Forest, Arkansas, Brown studied at Texas State College and Woodbury College. After working in junior management for three years, she embarked upon a career in advertising, advancing rapidly to become an acclaimed ad copywriter. She wrote the bestseller Sex and the Single Girl (1962,) which reflected a new mood of female independence.
Brown was appointed editor-in-chief of the ailing Cosmopolitan magazine, where she served 1965–96. She gave Cosmopolitan a dramatic makeover and its characteristically frank sexual tone. Adapting the motto “fun, fearless, female,”Cosmopolitan became an upbeat, fashionable publication that emphasized sexual and career independence and adventure. The “Cosmo girl” lifestyle contributed to the steady adjustment of cultural norms.
Brown’s other works include Outrageous Opinions (1966,) Sex and the New Single Girl (1970,) Having It All (1982,) and I’m Wild Again (2000.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Helen Gurley Brown
Beauty can’t amuse you, but brainwork—reading, writing, thinking—can.
—Helen Gurley Brown
Topics: Beauty
What you have to do is work with the raw material you have, namely you, and never let up.
—Helen Gurley Brown
Money, if it does not bring you happiness, will at least help you be miserable in comfort.
—Helen Gurley Brown
Topics: Happiness
The only thing that separates successful people from the ones who aren’t is the willingness to work very, very hard.
—Helen Gurley Brown
Topics: Success & Failure, Work, Success
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