By Stephanie Burke

Nora Ephron, the Oscar nominated writer who penned such hits as “When Harry Met Sally” and “Sleepless in Seattle”, passed away last night.  She was 71 years old.

Ephron had been very ill with cancer for some time.  However, she did not reveal her illness to anyone outside of her “inner circle”. Ephron’s husband, screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi, was her third husband.  Her most notable ex was her second husband, Carl Bernstein of the Watergate scandal.

Ephron was a very powerful woman in the industry. Her talent created some of the best romantic/comedies of our generation.  Ephron went to Wellesley College and started her career as a novelist before penning screen plays. Some of her other film credits include “You’ve got Mail”, “Michael” and “Julie and Julia”.

Romantic comedies will never be the same with the loss of such a great talent.  Nora Ephron was quoted once as saying, “To state the obvious, romantic comedies have to be funny and they have to be romantic. But one of the most important things, for me anyway, is that they be about two strong people finding their way to love.” No one portrayed characters finding their way to love better than Nora Ephron.  The movie industry will feel this loss…rest in peace Nora!