Remembering Nora Ephron, Just as She Planned
Ms. Ephron had planned the memorial herself, filing the plans in a folder marked “exit.” The program turned out to be poignant at times and uproarious at times, and there were frequent food references — to her roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, for example, and to the collection of at least 10 kinds of jam that she kept in the refrigerator. And, according to her son Max, her resistance to having Thanksgiving dinner early in the day. “We always had it at 7, like civilized people,” he said.
The invitation-only crowd included luminaries with whom she worked in New York and Hollywood. And the last speaker, who introduced a highlight reel of scenes from Ms. Ephron’s movies, introduced himself with the words many in the crowd had heard him say on the phone when they called to talk with her: “Nora Ephron’s office.” The voice belonged to J. J. Sacha, her assistant for 14 years.
“It’s fair to say I earned a Ph.D. in Nora,” Mr. Sacha said.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/09/a-memorial-service-for-nora-ephron-attracts-many-celebrities/?hp
