Filmmaker and writer Nora Ephron would probably not have considered herself a GeekMom. But for this GeekMom, she was someone special:
- Ephron, who wrote for New York and Ms. magazines, was one of the first journalists whose byline I learned to look for as a budding teenage newshound.
- She was married for a time to Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein, another of my heroes (and turned that into a movie, too).
- Though her films sometimes missed the mark (see above), she wrote one of the most memorable love scenes ever committed to celluloid – and it took place at a deli, between Meg Ryan and a sandwich.
- She made blogging look important in a movie about TV chef Julia Child (herself a geeky icon to some).
- She wrote two hilarious memoirs about New York City and growing older that simultaneously made me nostalgic for the city I once inhabited, and hopeful about the stage of life I am approaching.
- And she was smart, funny, female and mainstream successful – a combination not often seen, even today.
Ephron, who was 71, died tonight in New York of complications of leukemia. RIP, Ms Ephron – GeekMoms everywhere will miss you.
