I never met Nora Ephron but I wish I had. She was a woman whose words changed lives, including her own.
My favorite of her screenplays was "When Harry Met Sally." Who doesn't love cute as a button Meg Ryan?
But it was more than just the stars of this film that made it such a popular movie, even today.
Through her writing, she revealed what she had learned from the men in her life.
That they didn't want to be friends with women. And that sometimes, they just don't get what women are saying.
As one critic put it, "she turned scorned women into heroes."
The characters in her books and screenplays were women we can all relate to.
The famous line in "When Harry Met Sally": "I'll have what she's having," brought hilarious laughter to audiences. As it turns out, it was apparently an ad lib suggested by Billy Crystal and spoken by Rob Reiner's mother in the film.
But that line is more than just funny. It's so real. Something that tells women,
it's okay to be yourselves and to want it all. Who doesn't?
I admire Ephron for her strength in battling a difficult disease, and for leaving us all with not just a legacy of great books and films, but a message.
Even when women are hurt, or scorned or misunderstood, they can be strong and yes, end up not only with the guy of their dreams, but also as heroines.
Patrice Walsh, Reporter
