Marco Photos

Photo by Associated Press

Meg Ryan as Annie Reed, left, Ross Malinger as Jonah Baldwin and Tom Hanks as Sam Baldwin, right, in a scene from
1993's "Sleepless in Seattle," a film written and directed by Nora Ephron. Ephron, the essayist, author and filmmaker who challenged and thrived in the male-dominated worlds of movies and journalism and was loved, respected and feared for her devastating and diverting wit, died June 26, 2012 in Manhattan. Born into a family of screenwriters, a top journalist in her 20s and 30s, then a best-selling author and successful director, Ephron was among the most quotable and influential writers of her generation. She wrote and directed such favorites as "Julie & Julia" and "Sleepless in Seattle," and her books included the novel "Heartburn," about her marriage to Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein.