University of Arizona

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Lyn Tornabene Papers

Lyn Tornabene's thirty-seven year career in publishing began when she graduated from Penn State University as an English major and moved to Manhattan. Starting as a file clerk for the new American Library, she rose to the editorial departments of Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal, and Cosmopolitan. Before her passing in 2017, she resided in Tucson and contributed to the advancement of the arts.

The Lyn Tornabene papers (1958-1996) documents her publications and projects mainly from the 1960s through 1980s. In addition to her many appearances in periodicals Good HousekeepingLadies Home Journal, and Cosmopolitan, Ms. Tornabene authored two works for Simon and Schuster: What's a Jewish Girl? (1966) and I Passed as a Teenager (1967). Correspondents include Rock Hudson and Goldie Hawn. The manuscripts include: What's a Jewish Girl?I Passed as a Teenager, and an annotated draft of a musical play, Helen, co-authored by Helen Gurley Brown. Also included are her audio-taped interviews with Helen Gurley Brown, and photographs of Ms. Tornabene with celebrities Julie Andrews, Jack Benny, Peter Sellers; and copy prints used for her Clark Gable biography, Long Live the King (1976).