Pioneering "Cosmo" Editor Helen Gurly Brown Dies at 90

The groundbreaking editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine and source of inspiration for "Sex & the City" has died.

Helen Gurly Brown passed away Monday (August 13) after a brief hospitalization in New York at age 90. Her book "Sex and the Single Girl" was published in 1962 and spent over a year on the bestseller lists. The advice guide encouraged women to take pleasure in sex and pursue financial independence.

A film was made of the same name in 1964, starring Natalie Wood, Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, and Lauren Bacall.

Her time as editor of Cosmo from 1965 to 1997 helped establish the magazine for "fun, fearless females."

Frank A. Bennack, Jr., CEO of Hearst Corporation, said of the pioneer, "Helen Gurley Brown was an icon. Her formula for honest and straightforward advice about relationships, career and beauty revolutionized the magazine industry. She lived every day of her life to the fullest and will always be remembered as the quintessential 'Cosmo girl.' She will be greatly missed."

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