Enter Helen

by Brooke Hauser

  20: TECHNIQUES

  155“In an ideal world”: Helen Gurley Brown, Sex and the Office (Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade Books, 2004), “Come Fly with Me.”

  155Another was hiring Walter Meade: Biographical details about Meade, impressions of Helen Gurley Brown, descriptions of her office, and dialogue from Walter Meade, interviews and email exchanges with the author.

  155“We need an articles editor” and following dialogue: Ibid.

  156That was the mind-set Walter was in when Bill called: Ibid.

  156“I don’t know what I’m doing either”: Ibid.

  158Meade never forgot the memo that Helen sent back with the manuscript: Ibid.

  158Lyn Tornabene had been the magazine’s entertainment editor: Biographical details about Lyn Tornabene, anecdotes about office life at Cosmopolitan pre– Helen Gurley Brown, impressions of Helen, descriptions of her office, and dialogue from Lyn Tornabene, interview with the author, November 2014.

  159“Why should I do that?: Liz Smith fondly recalled Tornabene in her memoir, Natural Blonde (New York: Hyperion, 2000), 198.

  159“It was a very strange meeting”: Lyn Tornabene, interview with the author, November 2014

  159“She called on Thanksgiving”: Ibid.

  160“I don’t think Helen needed to see how far she could get”: Ibid.

  21: PIPPY-POO COPY

  161“What was so marvelous about Helen”: Lyn Tornabene, interview with the author, November 2014.

  161“You don’t just fall into a job like this”: Dialogue and descriptions in this scene from Dick Schaap, “Now It’s the Cosmo Club,” Providence Journal-Bulletin and New York Herald Tribune, 1965.

  162“She did not look like most editors”: Ibid.

  162“I always thought I was smarter than she was”: Liz Smith, interview with the author, May 2013.

  163“the magazine for people who can read”: David Brown, Let Me Entertain You (New York: William Morrow & Co., 1990), p. 28.

  163“We don’t want very many cosmic pieces”: Helen Gurley Brown in a Q&A, “New Direction for Cosmopolitan,” Writer, July 1965.

  163“You are censoring me!”: Liz Smith, Natural Blonde (New York: Hyperion, 2000), p. 200.

  163The writer of the review: Biographical details about Rex Reed per Reed, interview with the author, 2014.

  164A few days later, Liz called Rex: Liz Smith and Rex Reed told slightly different versions of how he came to be Cosmopolitan’s movie critic; this telling is based on Reed’s account.

  164“Car lovers will drool”: Rex Reed, “Drama Takes a Back Seat,” Cosmopolitan, June 1965, HGB Papers, SSC.

  164When Helen called Rex in for a meeting: Impressions of Helen Gurley Brown, descriptions of her office and her outfit, and dialogue from Rex Reed, interview with the author, 2014.

  164“you write pippy-poo copy”: Ibid.

  165“Because, my dear,” Helen cooed, “I was that girl”: Ibid.

  22: DADDY’S LITTLE GIRL

  166“Have you a rotten family”: Helen Gurley Brown, Having It All: Love, Success, Sex, Money, Even If You’re Starting with Nothing (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982), p. 34.

  166“the girl with her nose pressed against the glass”: Nikki Finke, “The Times Are Changing, but Not Cosmo, Still Hot After 25 Years,” Los Angeles Times, April 20, 1990.

  166You have to start in Carroll County: Descriptions of Helen Gurley Brown’s birthplace, Green Forest, Arkansas, and surrounding areas are per author, who visited in January 2014.

  167“That’s sort of a misconception”: Lou Honderich, interview with the author.

  168“I think it helped sell books”: Ibid.

  169Born in 1893 in the tiny nearby village of Alpena: Biographical details about Cleo Bryan per Helen Gurley Brown, “Memories of Mother and Early Life in Little Rock,” unpublished, late 1990s, HGB Papers, SSC; and per Lou Honderich, interview with author.

  169Newt has assumed the role of unofficial town historian: Information about the history of Osage Clayworks and Cleo’s house per Newton Lale, interview with the author, January 2014.

  170“Our mothers and our grandmothers grew up”: Ibid.

  170Cleo had wanted to get out once herself: Biographical details about Cleo, including her education, early career, courtship with Ira Gurley, marriage, and childbirth experiences, from Helen Gurley Brown, “Memories of Mother and Early Life in Little Rock.”

  170“I think Ira was smart”: Lou Honderich, interview with the author, 2015.

  171“devout male chauvinist”: Helen Gurley Brown, “Memories of Mother and Early Life in Little Rock.”

  171“Having babies isn’t everything”: Ibid.

  172“It was before the depression when money didn’t consume people so”: Ibid.

  173Cleo was the homemaker, the caretaker. Ira was the fun-maker, the thrill-seeker: Ibid.

  173By 1932, he was preparing to run for secretary of state: Ibid.

  173Helen was ten years old: Ibid. Helen gave a heartrending account of her father’s death and the aftermath in “Memories of Mother and Early Life in Little Rock.”

  175“One last time” happened a few times: Ibid.

  176the one-story white farmhouse was simple: Descriptions of Cleo’s parents’ house per Lou Honderich, email exchange with the author, July 2014.

  176For Helen and Mary, it was a time of escape: Helen Gurley Brown, “Memories of Mother and Early Life in Little Rock.”

  176Cleo tried to keep her own hands busy, too: Ibid.

  177Looking for some answers: Ibid.

  177Later, Cleo found out: Ibid.

  23: GOING WEST

  178“Helen may have come to the false conclusion about her looks after moving to California”: Lou Honderich, email exchange with the author.

  179“The days were somewhat pleasant, despite our being daddyless”: Ibid.

  179Helen found a happier home nearby: Ibid.

  181“the most beautiful breasts anybody ever aspired to,” “loving Elizabeth,” “loving boys”: Ibid.

  182“If Elizabeth and I were going through a homosexual phase”: Ibid.

  182Going to Chicago was the most thrilling adventure: Ibid.

  182When Cleo returned, she confessed: Ibid.

  182“It’s been three years since we lost your daddy” and following: Helen recalled this dialogue in Helen Gurley Brown and Lyn Tornabene, audio recording file no. 2545a, tape no. 1, Scene II (side A), 1970–71, HGB Papers. SSC.

  183In 1936, Cleo took the girls on a road trip: Helen Gurley Brown, “Memories of Mother and Early Life in Little Rock.”

  24: GOOD TIME GURLEY

  185“‘Guppie’ likes having her back scratched”: Untitled short profile of Helen Gurley, publication unknown (possibly The Optimist), circa spring 1939.

  185On a Sunday afternoon in April 1937: Helen Gurley Brown wrote about Mary’s polio diagnosis in multiple sources; this account is from I’m Wild Again:Snippets from My Life and a Few Brazen Thoughts (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000), p. 5.

  185“[We] were formed from the same gene pool” and following: Helen Gurley Brown, I’m Wild Again, p. 5.

  186Mary lived at the clinic: Ibid.

  186“Dear Mr. President”: Helen Gurley Brown, Dear Pussycat: Mash Notes and Missives from the Desk of Cosmopolitan’s Legendary Editor (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 204), p. 2.

  186Starting classes at John H. Francis Polytechnic High School: Helen Gurley Brown, “Memories of Mother and Early Life in Little Rock,” unpublished, late 1990s, HGB Papers, SSC.

  186Anxious that something would happen to her: Ibid. Helen described Cleo’s mounting neurosis, and her own unhappiness, which was also tied up with her acne and plain-girl looks.

  188At home, Helen became a part-time caretaker to Mary: Ibid.

  188At school, Helen was determined to become more social: Helen Gurley Brown, I’m Wild Again, p. 6.

  188They were as “close as stitches” . . . and they both wielded the power to wound: Helen Gurley Brow
n, “Memories of Mother and Early Life in Little Rock.”

  188She was elected president: Helen Gurley Brown’s class stats are from various article clippings that she saved from her high-school newspaper, The Optimist, John H. Francis Polytechnic High School, late-1930s, HGB Papers, SSC.

  188Hal didn’t have a date: Helen Gurley Brown, I’m Wild Again, p. 7.

  189luck had little to do with Helen’s high school success: Background from various article clippings that she saved from The Optimist.

  189“It lowers the respect of other fellows”: “Slacks on Campus Out of Place, Say Students,” publication unknown (possibly The Optimist), circa spring 1939.

  189“I’ve dreamed of being an Ephebian”: Untitled short profile of Helen Gurley, publication unknown (possibly The Optimist), circa spring 1939.

  189she soon lined up big plans: Account of Helen’s attempt at attending college; Cleo and Mary’s move to Warm Springs, Georgia; and Helen’s consequent move back home from Jennifer Scanlon, Bad Girls Go Everywhere (Penguin Books, 2009), pp. 18–19.

  191Helen became attuned to the clawing sounds of the gophers: Helen Gurley Brown, I’m Wild Again, p. 8.

  192She found him to be embarrassing: Ibid., p. 9.

  192Sometimes it felt like believing in Santa Claus: Helen Gurley Brown, Dear Pussycat, p. 308.

  193“If I’d been beautiful I might be a gold digger”: Ibid.

  194“She really did it because she saw me being a semi-nurse-companion”: Helen Gurley Brown, I’m Wild Again, p. 10.

  25: TURNING POINTS

  195“The world that shaped Helen”: Walter Meade, email exchange with the author, February 2014.

  195They should just use Helen as the girl: Helen Gurley Brown and Lyn Tornabene, audio recording no. 2268, tape 10, “HGB interview,” 1970–71, HGB Papers, SSC.

  196“That nearly killed me”: Ibid.

  196“I learned very early to be good in bed”: Helen Gurley Brown and Lyn Tornabene, audio recording no. 2547a, “Sex Is Power” tape no. 3, (side A) 1970– 71, HGB Papers, SSC.

  196She didn’t lose her virginity until she was twenty: Helen Gurley Brown interview with David Allyn for his book, Make Love, Not War: The Sexual Revolution: An Unfettered History (New York: Routledge, 2011).

  196“It was the most marvelous feeling”: Helen Gurley Brown and Lyn Tornabene, audio recording no. 2268, tape 10, “HGB interview.”

  197In no particular order; “the boys in the band” “devastating”: Helen described her conquests in Helen Gurley Brown and Lyn Tornabene, audio recording file no. 2547a, tape 3, “Sex Is Power” (side A).

  198Psychoanalysis, hypnosis, touch therapy—Helen tried it all: Helen described her various therapists and therapy sessions in Helen Gurley Brown and Lyn Tornabene, audio recording no. 2268, tape 10, “HGB Interview.”

  198he told her she didn’t have the right looks; “What about your mother?”: Ibid. Helen recalled this disturbing session and dialogue to Lyn Tornabene.

  198It wasn’t until she went to group therapy: Helen talked about Charles Cooke and group therapy with Lyn Tornabene. Milton H. Erickson’s assessment of Cooke is from Milton H. Erickson, Jeffrey K. Zeig, and Brent B. Geary, eds., The Letters of Milton H. Erickson (Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker & Theisen, 2000), p. 249.

  199Standing there, naked and vulnerable: Helen Gurley Brown and Lyn Tornabene, audio recording no. 2268, tape 10, “HGB Interview.”

  199Another time, when Charles brought a “potty” to a session: Ibid.

  26: SELF-PORTRAIT

  200“God damn it, Helen, you aren’t a mouseburger anymore”: Lyn Tornabene to Helen Gurley Brown, January 20, year unknown (possibly circa 1982-83), HGB Papers, SSC; “hillbilly stock”: Helen Gurley Brown quoted in Janet Cawley. “Yes, a Feminist Can Love Men,” Chicago Tribune, June 12, 1994.

  200she believed that she was: Helen wrote extensively about her insecurity. In I’m Wild Again: Snippets from My Life and a Few Brazen Thoughts (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000), she revisited her humble roots, plain-girl looks, and “average” IQ, in the section “Insecurity—a Girl’s Good Friend.”

  201“I thought they’d interest you”: Helen Gurley Brown, “Step Into My Parlour,” Cosmopolitan, July 1965.

  201“A guy reading Playboy”: Helen Gurley Brown in Providence Journal, 1965, HGB Papers, SSC.

  201“to the point of ridiculousness”; “a bona-fide genius”: Helen Gurley Brown, “Step Into My Parlour,” Cosmopolitan, August 1971, SSC.

  202“We like our apartment” and following: Hugh Hefner, Playboy, December 1953.

  202he liked the idea of there being “a female version of Playboy”: Hugh Hefner, interview with the author, November 2013.

  202“It was the beginning of the sexual revolution” and following: Ibid.

  203“Playmates,” Hefner says, “were often Cosmo Girls”: Ibid.

  203“I think magazines are the most personal form of mass communication”: Ibid.

  204“She seems constantly aware of her lack of fulfillment”: Runner Associates, 1957 job evaluation of Miss Helen Marie Gurley, HGB Papers, SSC.

  204“a woman’s 3 worst odor problems”: Ad in July 1965 Cosmopolitan, SSC.

  205“You also want to be inspired”: Helen Gurley Brown, “Step Into My Parlour,” Cosmopolitan, July 1965, SSC.

  27: PARLOUR GAMES

  206“Desk accessories should be female”: Helen Gurley Brown, Sex and the Office (Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade Books, 2004), p. 48.

  206“I always thought that when Helen decided to call her column”: Walter Meade, email exchange with the author, February 2014.

  207“About every four weeks”: Linda Cox, interview with the author, June 2015.

  207From the start, David edited “Step Into My Parlour”: In David Brown, Let Me Entertain You (New York: William Morrow & Co., 1990), pp. 109–10, Helen says that David still edited her column every month.

  207He wanted her to cut a risqué cover line: Helen recalled this episode ibid., p. 110.

  207Like the company itself, Berlin was conservative: Description of Berlin and his position at Hearst draws from James Landers’s comprehensive history of Cosmopolitan, The Improbable First Century of “Cosmopolitan” Magazine (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2010), pp. 211–13.

  208“The new pill that makes women more responsive to men”: Helen in David Brown, Let Me Entertain You, p. 110.

  208“Why don’t you try this on Mr. Berlin?” he asked: Helen Gurley Brown and Lyn Tornabene, audio recording file no. 2553b, tape no. 9 (side B), 1970–71, HGB Papers, SSC.

  208Helen learned something about power: Ibid.

  209“The new pill that promises to make women more responsive”: Cosmopolitan cover, July 1965.

  209The July issue sold approximately 954,000 newsstand copies: Jeannine Locke, “The Pippy-Poo World of Helen Gurley Brown,” Star Weekly, Toronto, January 1, 1966.

  209“Guess how much?”: Walter Meade, interview with the author.

  209“I think she said, ‘We’re on the Yellow Brick Road’”: Ibid.

  210“I will not have it in my home”: Reader letter, “Dear Cosmopolitan,” Cosmopolitan, October 1965, SSC.

  210“whorish” model on the cover; “nothing but a stupid, idiotic cow of a sexpot”: Reader letters, “Dear Cosmopolitan,” Cosmopolitan, September 1965; October 1965, SSC.

  210advertising giants like AT&T and Coca-Cola backed away or bailed: Helen Gurley Brown and Lyn Tornabene, audio recording file no. 2553b, tape no. 9 (side B).

  210“The July issue of COSMO is alive”: Reader letter, “Dear Cosmopolitan,” Cosmopolitan, October 1965.

  210“I feel that you have given career girls a ‘laughing look’”: Reader letter, Cosmopolitan, October 1965, SSC.

  211One of those magazines was Look: Background on Gardner “Mike” Cowles Jr., Fleur Fenton Cowles, Look magazine, and Samuel “Shap” Shapiro from the following sources: Online biography of Gardner Cowles Jr. (Mike) by Herb Strentz, www.lib.drake.edu, Cowles
Family Publishing Legacy, Drake University, Cowles Library; Amy Fine Collins, “A Flair for Living,” Vanity Fair, October 1996; “Cowles Closing Look Magazine After 34 Years,” New York Times, September 17, 1971; and “Samuel O. Shapiro, 87, a Circulation Director,” obituary, New York Times, September 6, 1990.

  211even he had never seen anything quite like the newsstand sales figures: Patricia Carbine recalled this episode in the conference room at Look, interview with the author, January 2014.

  211“I thought she was talking about somebody I didn’t know”: Ibid.

  212“What she had managed to do was turn her book into a magazine”: Ibid.

  28: JAMES BOND ON A BUDGET

  213“She had flattery down to a high art”: Liz Smith, interview with the author, May 2013.

  213A few weeks into her appointment as editor: Descriptions of Helen’s walk per Walter Meade, interview with the author.

  214“How’s your summer going?”: Barbara Hustedt Crook, interview with the author.

  214“She always made me nervous”: Ibid.

  214Richard Berlin had been reluctant to hire Helen: James Landers, The Improbable First Century of “Cosmopolitan” Magazine (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2010), p. 224.

  214Deems monitored Cosmopolitan’s editorial content: Background on the supervising roles of Richard Deems and Frank Dupuy Jr., ibid, pp. 224, 230.

  215She also needed to cut costs, drastically: Chris Welles, “Soaring Success of the Iron Butterfly,” Life, November 19, 1965.

  215“Well, I don’t understand it”: Helen Gurley Brown and Lyn Tornabene, audio recording file no. 2553b, tape no. 9 (side B), 1970–71, HGB Papers, SSC.

  215“Well,” they huffed, “if Herb Mayes”: Ibid.

  215“Those two-faced bitches”: Ibid.

  216It was amazing how sloppy writers could be: Helen outlined some of her writing pet peeves in memos to the staff, beginning with “Memo 1,” January 18, 1967, Cosmopolitan editing and writing, HGB Papers, SSC.

  216“One thing I decided”: Liz Smith, “Cosmo Goes to the Movies,” Cosmopolitan, August 1965.

  217Helen penciled in: Red diary, 1965, HGB Papers, SSC.

  217People wanted to see only the “after,” he said: Helen Gurley Brown, “Step Into My Parlour,” Cosmopolitan, October 1965.