Enter Helen (43 page)

146
  
“a bosom she doesn't make much of a fuss about”: “Are You a JAX Girl”:
Cosmopolitan
, July 1965.

146
  
“What's this one?”: Helen Gurley Brown and Lyn Tornabene. Helen recalled finding her first cover girl in audio recording file no. 2553b, tape no. 9 (side B).

147
  
she was the first
Cosmo
cover girl under Helen Gurley Brown: Biographical details about Renata Boeck per Renata Boeck, interview with the author, August 2014.

147
  
“They were looking for someone famous”: Ibid.

147
  
“Ten minutes later, I got a call”: Ibid.

148
  
“She wanted cleavage”: Ibid.

148
  
“It is the case of the untreated woman”: Robert A. Wilson,
Feminine Forever
(New York: M. Evans and Company, 1966); and Joe Neel, “The Marketing of Menopause,” NPR, August 8, 2002.

149
  
“from puberty to the grave”: Robert A. Wilson,
Feminine Forever
.

149
  
“honey of a hormone”: Lin Root, “Oh What a Lovely Pill!”
Cosmopolitan
, July 1965. (Even though Lin Root is the credited writer, Helen told Lyn Tornabene
that she rewrote the article in audio recording 553b, tape no. 9 [side B], 1970–71, HGB Papers, SSC.)

149
  
“My skin is fresher”: Lin Root, “Oh What a Lovely Pill!”

149
  
years later, studies showed: Joe Neel, “The Marketing of Menopause.”

150
  
“I mainlined Premarin for years”: Meryl Gordon, “Hormonal Imbalance,”
New York
, July 22, 2002.

150
  
Above all, she wanted
Cosmopolitan
to feel personal: Helen described
Cosmo
's tone as being like the voice of an older sister in an article by John J. Goldman,
Los Angeles Times
, reprinted as “Ask Helen Gurley Brown: “Can a Small Town Girl Achieve Fame in the City,”
Tuscaloosa News,
May 5, 1971.

150
  
In a rush to fill the position of managing editor: Helen told Lyn Tornabene about offering the job to various staffers, audio recording file no. 2553b, tape no. 9 (side B).

150
  
several other editors had worked at the magazine for years: A. R. Roalman gave a great overview of
Cosmopolitan
's staff and modus operandi in “The New Cosmopolitan,”
Writer's Digest
, August 1966.

151
  
“For information on children”: Ibid.

151
  
Helen used to call her “a white-knuckle girl”: Walter Meade, interview with the author.

151
  
“Don't come at me with the inexpensive, off-season vacation story”: A. R. Roalman, “The New Cosmopolitan.”

151
  
she wanted the fiction to reflect this new demographic: Ibid.

152
  
Liz had been writing about movies and movie stars: Biographical details about Liz Smith per her memoir
Natural Blonde
(New York: Hyperion, 2000), passim.

152
  
“She was just a little girl from Arkansas like I was just a little girl from Texas”: Liz Smith, interview with the author, May 2013.

152
  
“like icebergs—only partly visible to mortals”
and following
: Liz Smith, “Mr. and Mrs. Burton One Year Later,”
Cosmopolitan
, February 1965.

153
  
Liz Smith had come in to work expecting to be fired: Smith described job-hunting along with her colleagues in
Natural Blonde
, p. 199.

153
  
“Well, Lizzie, what shall we do with you?”: Ibid., p. 200.

153
  
“a glorious unfettered, sexy and seductive paean”: Ibid.

154
  
“I'll never forget—she was so shy and deferential”: Liz Smith, interview with the author, May 2013.

20: T
ECHNIQUES

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

155
  
Another 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.

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

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

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

158
  
Lyn 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: P
IPPY-
P
OO
C
OPY

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.

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

164
  
A 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.

164
  
When 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: D
ADDY'S
L
ITTLE
G
IRL

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.

166
  
You 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.

169
  
Born 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.

169
  
Newt 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.

170
  
Cleo 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.

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

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

173
  
Helen 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.

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

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

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

177
  
Looking for some answers: Ibid.

177
  
Later, Cleo found out: Ibid.

23: G
OING
W
EST

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.

179
  
Helen 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.

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

182
  
When 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.

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

24: G
OOD
T
IME
G
URLEY

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

185
  
On 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.

186
  
Mary 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.

186
  
Starting 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.

186
  
Anxious 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.

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

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