Nora Ephron helped craft the modern romantic comedy, leaving an indelible mark on the genre by chronicling love-lorn, mildly neurotic urbanites in hits like "When Harry Met Sally" and "Sleepless in Seattle."
The director and screenwriter was hailed as a latter-day Ernst Lubitsch for her sparkling dialogue when she died last June after battling cancer. Now the Writers Guild of America, East will add its own tribute.
The guild will honor Ephron, a member of its union, at its 2013 awards ceremony Feb. 17 in New York City.
Author Meg Wolitzer, whose novel, “This Is My Life,” was adapted and directed by Ephron in 1992 will head up the tribute, which will include of Ephron's work and interviews, the guild said..
"Nora Ephron’s life and body of work were those of a quintessential New Yorker, but not only did she embody the sophistication, wit and energy of our city, she was also a loyal union member who walked the picket line and talked the talk on behalf of all her fellow writers,” Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America, East, said in a statement.
In addition to her films, Ephron was a journalist and memoirist. Her novel "Heartburn" was a thinly disguised roman a clef about the dissolution of her marriage to reporter Carl Bernstein; her play, "Lucky Guy," stars actor Tom Hanks and debuts on Broadway in March 2013.
Ephron received the union’s Ian McClellan Hunter Award honoring her body of work as a writer in motion pictures in 2003.
