Helen Gurley Brown, the World Trade Center and Nobel Prizes...
A look back at the world in Smithsonian Magazine's first year
- By Mimi Kirk
- Smithsonian magazine, December 2005, Subscribe
Where Are They Now?
Helen Gurley Brown
Editor of Cosmopolitan
Not only is Helen Gurley Brown, editor of Cosmopolitan from 1965 to 1997, still widely known for her bestselling book, Sex and the Single Girl, and its sequel, Sex and the New Single Girl, published in 1970, but she insists that its pre-feminist message remains as apt today as when she first declared it. "All the suggestions about pleasing men are as viable as ever," says Brown, 83. "Whatever age you are, you should be flattering to a man about the way he looks."
Gloria Steinem called her a "pioneer" for insisting that women should seek sexual parity with men, "but she’s fooling herself if she thinks her message is a feminist one."
After retiring as Cosmo's editor, Brown became head of the magazine's international editions, a job she holds to this day. She and husband, David Brown, 89, a producer of such films as Jaws and Chocolat, live in New York City.
— Mimi Kirk
One World Trade Center welcomes its first tenants December 16. Businesses move onto the 10th and 11th floors while construction to complete the 110-story building continues. At its dedication in April 1973, Gov. Nelson Rockefeller calls the twin skyscraper a "great marriage of utility and beauty."
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