David Shankbone · CC BY 3.0

Nora Ephron wrote the screenplay for When Harry Met Sally... (1989), later ranked by the Writers Guild among the best of all time, then moved into directing romantic comedies that defined the genre for a generation — Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, Julie & Julia. She was also a sharp, funny essayist and columnist for Esquire and The New Yorker, work that shaped her reputation as much as the films did.