Helen Gurley Brown has passed

[WilliamPitt]

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/helen-gurley-brown-who-gave-cosmopolitan-its-purr-is-dead-at-90/

[Beaverhausen]

1. That's the end of an era for sure

She was one of a kind.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. She was a character for sure.

[HappyMe]

3. Damn.

Rest in peace Gurley girl.

[AtomicKitten]

4. I read Cosmo in the 70's. HGB was ahead of her time.

She was a staunch defender of women with brown hair!

I recall her fondly.

[RebelOne]

8. Yes, I read it in the '60s, 70s and '80s

and I read one of her books. I loved that woman. I think she contributed to my becoming a feminist. RIP HGB.

[malaise]

15. Same here

R.I.P. Helen - you were part of my life back then

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Wow.

Didn't realize she was still around. Definitely one of the pioneers.

[LeftofObama]

6. Godspeed Helen!

You were definitely one of a kind.

RIP my friend!

[cali]

7. I picked up a cookbook by her a few years ago at a yardsale

for .25. Yes, a cookbook. Shockingly, I found it had some really good recipes, including one called ghastly eggs which was to be utilized to get rid of a guy the next morning. It was really just a recipe for a classic eggs poached in red wine and aromatics but it was a simple one and good.

So thanks for that Helen, and RIP

[frazzled]

9. Also this afternoon, the great saxophonist Von Freeman, 88, passed away

Just so he and his great music are not forgotten:

Revered around the world but never a major star, worshiped by critics and connoisseurs but perpetually strapped for cash, the towering Chicago tenor saxophonist Von Freeman practically went out of his way to avoid commercial success.

When trumpeter Miles Davis phoned Freeman, in the 1950s, looking for a replacement for John Coltrane, Freeman never returned the call.

When various bandleaders – from Davis to Billy Eckstine to King Kolax – tried to take him on the road, where his talents could be heard coast to coast, Freeman regularly turned them down. ...


Von Freeman always considered his relative obscurity – which lasted nearly until the final years of his career, when the world started to recognize his genius – a blessing. It enabled him to forge an extremely unusual but instantly recognizable sound, to pursue off-center musical ideas that were not likely to be welcomed in the commercial marketplace.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-von-freeman-dies-chicago-jazz-music-20120813,0,7008651.column

[WilliamPitt]

10. ...and Johnny Pesky of the Red Sox.

Jeez.

[Cleita]

11. Oh that's too bad.

She was the first woman to give this convent raised girl permission to think about sex and not feel guilty about it.

RIP Helen. You were the first feminist.

[Vidar]

12. RIP Ms. Brown

[hamsterjill]

13. Cosmo was a must!

In high school and college, I read it from cover to cover!

Thank you for all that you did, Helen, to further the women's move toward equality!

[dipsydoodle]

14. Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.

RIP.