The daughter of successful Hollywood screenwriters, Nora Ephron (born 1941) herself won acclaim during the 1980s for such screenplays as the Academy Award-nominated Silkwood and the highly successful comedy When Harry Met Sally. In the 1990s Ephron turned to film directing with such works as This Is My Life and the romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle.

Success has marked every phase of Nora Ephron's career as a journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and movie director. Viewing her life and the lives of others, particularly intimates, as material for her works, she is famous for her observations of other people's lives, as well as for her own personal revelations. Ephron was a pioneer of "new journalism" in the 1970s, writing bold essays about social issues of the day, as well as other writers' views. The novel and movie Heartburn turned the very public breakup of her second marriage into a best-seller. Such...