Prior to this biography I was only vaguely aware of who Nora Ephron was. I had somehow missed the Dick Cavett and Barbara Walters interviews and had completely ignored HBO’s Everything is Copy - Nora Ephron: Scripted & Unscripted, I had, however, watched many of her films.

Nora Ephron was not just one thing. She was a Wellesley wunderkind who briefly interned in the administration of JFK. She was a “mail girl” turned litigant at Newsweek at a time when the magazine refused to hire women as writers. She was both a reporter for The New York Post and a columnist for Esquire. She was even, incidentally for a four year stretch, the wife of famed Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein.

In 1983 Ephron co-wrote the screenplay for Silkwood, a true story about a whistleblower in a Oklahoma nuclear facility who died under mysterious circumstances. That screenplay garnered Ephron an Oscar nomination which, in turn, helped launch a very successful career in films.

I can’t say I was a fan of every movie Ephron helped create but her résumé as a writer, producer and director is impressive. It includes: Silkwood, Heartburn, When Harry Met Sally, My Blue Heaven, Michael, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, and Julie & Julia - just to name a few.

Kristin Doidge paints a portrait of Ephron that is nuanced without being leading or judgmental (not everyone in Nora’s circle of influence was a fan—some for good reason!). I found this to be a fascinating study in human perseverance and achievement. Nora Ephron was a filmmaker whom studios sought, actors admired, audiences loved and craft services feared. She was an extraordinary raconteur and a (perhaps reluctant) feminist icon. This is a heartwarming life history I won’t soon forget.