RIP: Nora Ephron, at 71

Nora Ephron, acclaimed writer and director behind romantic comedies like You've Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle, has died due to complications of illness. She was 71. A force of wit and wisdom, Ephron's novels, essays and films surpassed generations and genders alike. She began as a journalist and a playwright, then took on the Hollywood boys' club, observing that, to studio executives, "a movie about a woman's cure for cancer is less interesting than a movie about a man with a hangnail." After writing the script for When Harry Met Sally, and writing/directing You've Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle, it was her turn to call the shots. For the last six years Ephron struggled with myelodysplasia, a blood disorder, of which recently made her extremely ill. She passed away Tuesday in a New York hospital. [washingtonpost]