Mother of today's Cosmopolitan has died

The long time editor in chef of the Cosmopolitan magazine died Monday morning in New York Presbyterian Colombia hospital after a short illness.

Helen Gurley Brown was the editor in chef of Cosmopolitan for 32 years, having stepped down from the editorship in 1997, however remaining in charge of the magazines 64 international editors to the very day of her death at 90.

Brown first became famous after she wrote ''Sex and the Single Girl' published in 1962, which aim was to encourage women to become financially independent and experience sexual relationships before or without marriage. The book was revolutionary, as no one read or said such things before. 2 million copies were sold in a week. Similarity as a result of Helen and her feminist nature, Cosmopolitan changed from a magazine filled with articles mostly about how to bring up the perfect child, to a magazine encouraging women to have sex regardless of material status. Brown said her goal was to tell readers "how to get everything out of life - the money, recognition, success, men, prestige, authority, dignity - whatever she is looking at through the glass her nose is pressed against".

''Good Girls go to heaven – bad girls go everywhere'' quote author was born in Green Forest, Arkansas. As a young girl she earned pocket money by giving other kids dance lessons. She worked as a secretary is the city she was partly raised in, L.A, as she climbed the ladder to become an advertising copywriter.

After losing her virginity aged 20, she remained sexually active, but promised herself never to get hitched up with “a gas station attendant or somebody who boxed the groceries because he was sexy”, positioning her interest on higher items. In 1959 she married film producer David Brown, they would have no children by choice, Brown concluded. Cosmopolitan's Kate White said she turned what had been a ''tired'' magazine into a ''powerhouse''.

In 1967 Brown also hosted a TV talk show, "Outrageous Opinions," incorporated in 19 cities. She also went on to write five more books, including at the age 71, "The Late Show," which was subtitled: "A Semiwild but Practical Survival Plan for Women Over 50." New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg paid tribute to Brown, saying that New York City had lost "a pioneer who reshaped not only the entire media industry, but the nation's culture"

''My success was not based so much on any great intelligence but on great common sense''-    Helen Marie Gurley Brown.