Mr. Cosmo, R.I.P.

The original Sex And the City girl was Helen Gurley Brown and her Mr. Big was David Brown her husband. I heard he passed away a few days ago and was reminded that he originated the use of juicy captions and headlines on the front of Cosmopolitan magazine. The story goes Helen Gurley Brown who was the editor of Cosmo would get him to write wild cover captions based on the articles inside. I remember at some point in high school someone had brought in a bunch of Cosmo magazines, for art class or writing class. I don't remember exactly but I do remember I got my hands on them. I thought it was the greatest thing since comic books. I suppose Cosmo magazine was some kind of bridge for me expanding youthful reading from Sci-fi and comic books to magazines. I loved the shiny pages with all kinds of crazy articles on how to fix up an apartment or cinch an oversized t-shirt so it would be sexier. Articles with household hints like "How To Make a side table from a cardboard box, a toaster, a magnet and a scarf!" or "How to break through the glass ceiling with a stilleto!" or "Snazz up a room by painting it bubble gum pink!" I believe all of these kinds of cutting edge articles had exclamation points. I had the overwhelming introduction that getting one's own apartment was the single most sensational activity one could accomplish. A concept that empowered young people as they prepared to move out of the family home or go off to college. And of course. Sex. Sex everything. "How to make love like a butterfly" and if that didn't work "How to surprise your man with a secret technique from the Egyptian book of the Dead". Exclamation point.

David Brown was also a movie producer making The Sugarland Express with Speilberg and then hiring him to direct Jaws. He also produced A Few Good Men on Broadway, discovering Aaron Sorkin. He produced The Sting, Angela's Ashes and Road To Perdition. But I will always remember him as the fellow who got me interested in topics beyond Conan The Barbarian and Silver Surfer. Cosmo mag was all about the swagger and I'm sure millions of young people got a lot of their sex ed from it's pages, with it's emphasis on female orgasm. Props! And besides...to this day, I can make a mean coffee table with a stack of magazines, some magnets, glue and a toaster. I might even paint a wall bubble gum pink for old times sake. Exclamation point.