The room filled and then spilled out into the hallway. Nick came and went, doing the necessary next-of-kin chores, never saying much. Mostly, he sat by the side of the bed, hands clasped on top of the sheets, slumped over in a defeat so total that pain itself would have been relief.
The numbers—platelets, reds, whites, and the like—recovered a bit and then, confusingly, went their own ways, some up, some down, some no change at all. There was reason to hope, a cruel tease, then very quickly no reason to hope at all. Nora slipped away, asleep then awake, then asleep again. Friends, relatives went in and out, sometimes talking to Nora, sometimes just peering at her. The morphine drip was applied.
* * *
I went home and attended to Mona. It was evening, time for her medications, and that night it occurred to me that there was something urgent I needed to say to Nora. In the morning, I hurried to the hospital and sat on the bed as close to her as I could get. She was asleep. I got closer. I told her that I loved her. I had told her that before, of course, but not enough, not nearly enough. Now I said it to her and then I said it again. She opened her eyes and looked at me and said, “Who is that?”
“Richard,” I said, dismayed that she didn’t know who I was.
She laughed. “I know that.”
She laughed again and so did I.
She always made me laugh.
Acknowledgments
* * *
Writing this book was both an exercise in nostalgia and discovery. I knew Nora Ephron very well indeed but memories of her kept sneaking back into my recollection through the anecdotes of others. At the same time, her many friends had their own memories of Nora—ones I shared and ones I knew nothing about. Here, with immense gratitude, are their names: Ken Auletta, Alice Arlen, Joyce Ashley, Francie Barnard, Carl Bernstein, Bo Burlingham, Patricia Bosworth, Marie Brenner, Marcia Burick, Colin Callender, Kate Capshaw, Lisa Caputo, Jennifer Carden, Ellen Chesler, Gail Collins, Barbara Cochran, Alexander Cohen, Deborah Copaken, Avery Corman, Meghan Daum, Dianne Dreyer, Peter Davis, Barry Diller, Kristin Doidge, Jim Dwyer, Lee Eisenberg, Hallie Ephron, Ann Fleuchaus, Al Franken, Roy Furman, Sandy Gallin, Ina Garten, David Geffen, Peter Goldman, Robert Gottlieb, Dan Greenburg, Lynn Grossman, Louise Grunwald, Clyde Haberman, Tom Hanks, Pete Hamill, Eddie Hayes, Arianna Huffington, Edward Kosner, Rosalind Krauss, Aaron Latham, John Leo, Lucy Le Page, Michael Levett, Christopher Lospalluto, Bryan Lourd, Mary Ann Madden, Anthony Mancini, Laurence Mark, James McCauley, Alice MacAlary, Steve Martin, Lawrence Meyer, Anne Navasky, Victor Navasky, Lynn Nesbit, Mike Nichols, Stephen Nimer, Jack O’Brien, Amy Pascal, Maurie Perl, Abigail Pogrebin, Stanley Pottinger, Sally Quinn, Frank Rich, David Remnick, Howard Rosenman, Ann Roth, Scott Rudin, Meg Ryan, J.J. Sacha, Diane Sawyer, Deborah Solomon, Robert Spitzler, Liz Smith, Martin Short, Lynn Sherr, Joel Schumacher, Sasha Spielberg, Steven Spielberg, Alessandra Stanley, Meryl Streep, Howard Stringer, Gay Talese, Rusty Unger, Amanda Urban, Mary Pat Walsh, Jane Wenner, Jann Wenner, Jim Wiatt, Rita Wilson, Margo Winkler, George Wolfe, Tom Wolfe and—out of order alphabetically—Walter Isaacson. He suggested I write this book.
I am indebted to Alice Crites of the Washington Post’s research staff for her magical ability to find just about anything ever printed and to Emily Loose for her heroic attempt to organize my chaotic manuscript. Stuart Roberts of Simon & Schuster is not only a deft editor but repeatedly had to tutor me in the ways of the S&S computer programs and he did it always with great patience and inexplicable good nature. Along the way, I had the help of Elizabeth Gay, who handled publicity; Nicole McArdle, who did the online marketing; Ruth Lee-Mui, a designer who got it just right; Martha Schwartz, production editor; and Elisa Rivlin, who read the manuscript as both a lawyer and, it turned out, a fact-checker. I thank them all.
Alice Mayhew was the editor of All The President’s Men, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward’s 1974 book on their Watergate reporting. That’s when we met, and I was impressed with her editing then and I am even more impressed with it now that she has worked on two books of mine. She is a skilled editor, a steady guide through the vicissitudes of book writing, and enormously good fun. She is a gift.
© SIGRID ESTRADA
RICHARD COHEN is a nationally syndicated columnist for The Washington Post, where he has covered national politics and foreign affairs since 1976. His writing has appeared in The New Republic, The Nation, Esquire, GQ, The New York Review of Books, and many other publications.
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Index
* * *
A note about the index: The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.
Ackerman, Mona, 17–19, 108, 120, 242–47, 249, 250, 273–74, 282
Adams, Amy, 205, 271
Adams, Franklin Pierce, 34
Affair to Remember, An (movie), 30, 210, 271
AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), 178
Agnelli, Gianni, 137
Agnew, Spiro T., 24, 28, 134
Algonquin Hotel, 52
Algonquin Round Table, 22, 29, 34–35, 68
Allen, Woody, 164, 171
All the President’s Men (Bernstein and Woodward), 123, 132
All the President’s Men (movie), 25, 26, 132–34, 165
Alsop, Joseph, 229, 230
Altman, Robert, 164
Amis, Martin, 275
Angels in America (HBO), 258
Anthony, Susan B., 35
Arbus, Diane, 208
Archie comics, 218
Arendt, Hannah, 68, 231
Arlen, Alice, 165–66, 168, 169, 190, 235, 252, 269
Arlen, Michael, 252
Living-Room War, 166
Armstrong-Jones, Antony, 65
Ashley, Joyce, 18, 278
Associated Press, 178–79
Auletta, Ken, 152, 182, 183, 184, 185, 279
Austen, Jane, 256
Bacall, Lauren “Betty,” 127–28, 252
Lauren Bacall by Myself, 127
Bailey, Lee, 8, 9, 12, 72, 252, 279
Balaban, Bob, 22, 79, 201–2
Baldwin, James, 92
Ballard, Sara, 180
Band of Brothers (TV), 254
Barbarella (movie), 54
Beatles, 65
Beatty, Warren, 167
Beck, Simone, 271
Beech, Keyes, 236, 269
Behrendt, George W., 138
Behrendt, Olive, 138–39
Bellow, Saul, 22, 95
Benjamin, Richard, 122
Benton, Robert, 164
Bergen, Candice, A Fine Romance, 76
Bergman, Ingrid, 111
Berkowitz, Bernard, 121–22
Berlin, Irving, 211, 213
Bernard, Francie, 121
Bernard, Walter, 198
Bernstein, Carl, 20–21, 252
and “Attachment A to Marital Separation Agreement,” 155, 156
breakup with Nora, 146–49, 150–54, 155, 172, 207
as celebrity, 151, 230
and dinner parties, 126–27, 229
and Heartburn, 155–57, 171–72, 173
and Margaret, 144, 146
marriage to Nora, 122–24, 126
meeting Nora, 153–54
and movies, 132–33
and music, 144–45
traveling with, 138, 139, 141, 142
at Washington Post, ix, 20, 21, 25, 26, 90, 156
and Watergate, 21, 25, 26, 90
Bernstein, Jacob (son), xi, 251
documentary about Nora by, 36
and Nora and Carl’s breakup, 149, 150, 156–57, 158, 162
and Nora and Nick’s marriage, 175, 207
and Nora’s illness and death, 117, 279, 280
Nora’s pregnancy with, 7, 125–26
Bernstein, Max (son), xi, 251
birth of, 151, 155–56
and Nora and Carl’s breakup, 149, 150, 156–57, 158, 162
and Nora and Nick’s marriage, 175, 207
and Nora’s illness and death, 279, 280
Bernstein, Sylvia, 123
Bewitched (movie), 6, 118, 216–19, 220
Bewitched (TV), 216–18
Big (movie), 190
Birds, The (movie), 63
Blackglama, 228
Blinder, Abe, 98
Block, Herbert “Herblock,” 60
Bogart, Humphrey, 254
Boies, David and Mary, 76–77
Bonfire of the Vanities, The (movie), 199
Boston Globe, 24
Bosworth, Patricia, 36–37
Boy from Oz, The (musical), 240
Bradlee, Benjamin C.:
and Quinn, 128–29
socializing, 146–47, 184, 252
and Washington Post, 21, 51, 53, 134, 135
Brahms, Johannes, Academic Festival Overture, 16
Brammer, Billy Lee, The Gay Place, 13
Brando, Marlon, 110, 111
Brantley, Ben, 233
Brenner, Marie, 153–54, 264
Breslin, Jimmy, 237, 262
Breyer, Stephen G., 47
Brickman, Marshall, 164
Bridge, Fred, 9
Bridge Kitchenware, 8–9
Bridges of Madison County, The (movie), 201
Brill Building, New York, 13
Brokaw, Meredith, 77
Brokaw, Tom, 77, 277
Broun, Heywood, 34
Brown, David, 23, 99
Brown, Helen Gurley, 23, 87–88, 99–100
Brown, Richard A., 185–86
Buck, Pearl, 228
Buckley, William F., Jr., Overdrive, 106
Bundy, McGeorge, 55–56
Burick, Marcia, 39–40, 101
Burlingham, Bo, 97–99
Burnham, David, 164
Burton, Richard, 63
Burton, Sybil, 63–64
Caddell, Patrick, 83
Cagney, James, xi, 191
Callahan, James, 143–44
Callender, Colin, 239, 257, 281
Capshaw, Kate, 12, 236
Captain Newman, M.D. (movie), 36
Caputo, Lisa, 12
Carden, Jennifer, 43, 45–46, 49
Carnelia, Craig, 233
Carroll, Diahann, 221
Carson, Johnny, 22, 67
Carter, Graydon, 275
Carter, Jimmy, 83
Carter, Rosalynn, 128
Casablanca (movie), 35, 193
Casino (movie), 181–82
Catch-22 (movie), 112, 115, 122, 201–2
Cavett, Dick, 116, 119, 227–28
CBS Morning News (TV), 128, 129–30
Charlie Rose (TV), 222
Cheever, John, 191
Chekhov, Anton, 135
Cher, 166
Cherry, Sheldon, 7
Chicago Daily News, 236
Chicago Sun-Times, 173, 189
Child, Julia, 272
Mastering the Art of French Cooking, 271
Child, Paul, 271, 272
Chisholm, Shirley, 93–94
Chopra, Deepak, 244
Christmas, 211–13, 251
Christopher, Jordan, 63–64
Claiborne, Craig, 9
Clark, Mae, 191
Clinton, Bill, 73
Clooney, George, 236, 239
Cohen, Pearl, 249, 250
Cohn, Sam, 163–64, 165–67, 168, 189, 198, 215–16
Collins, Gail, 263
Collins, Wilkie, The Moonstone, 13
Congress for Cultural Freedom, 228
Cooper Union, New York, 274–76
Corman, Avery, 118–19, 120, 189
Corman, Judy, 52, 118–20, 219, 252
Cosmopolitan, 23, 87, 100
Couples, 21
Craig, Daniel, 239
Creative Artists Agency, 215
Cronyn, Hume, 13
Crum, Bartley, 37
Crystal, Billy, 188, 190, 192, 193
Cuisinart food processor, 9
Culkin, Macaulay, 164
David and Lisa (movie), 70
Davis, Al, 58
Davis, Geena, 221–22
Day, Doris, xi, 64
Death of a Salesman (drama), 273
Dee, Sandra, 158
Deitl, Bo, 278
Democratic National Committee, 21, 26, 90
Democratic National Convention (1972), 93
De Niro, Robert, 167
Diaz, Linda, 14, 15
Didion, Joan, 70
Dietrich, Marlene, 222
Diller, Barry, 82, 91–92
Disney, Walt, 209
Dispatch News Service, 132
Doc (movie), 70
Doctorow, E. L., 164
Dos Passos, John, 92
Douglas, Helen Gahagan, 26
Douglas, Kirk, 64
Dreyfuss, Richard, 167
Dudar, Helen, The Attentive Eye, 66
Dunaway, Faye, 70
Dunham, Lena, 4
Dunne, John Gregory, 70
Durante, Jimmy, 210
Dutton, Fred and Nancy, 144
Dwyer, Jim, 262
Eastwood, Clint, 201
Ebert, Roger, 173, 189
Eisenberg, Lee, 88
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 26, 35
Eisenstein, Rabbi Ira, 69
Elaine’s, New York, 52, 182
Elliott, Osborn, 50, 54
Englander, Nathan, 3–4
Ephron, Amy (sister), 185, 212, 279
Ephron, Delia (sister), 85
childhood of, 31, 38
and Nora’s illness and death, 248, 279, 280
socializing, 185, 212
as writing partner, xi, 189, 198, 214, 215, 217, 218, 248
Ephron, Hallie (sister), 105, 212, 279
Ephron, Henry (father):
death of, 37, 152
drinking, 32, 48, 269–70
in Hollywood, 29–31, 35–36, 157, 226
philandering, 36, 39
and Phoebe’s death, 37
and Red Scare, 226
Take Her, She’s Mine, 44, 158
violence of, 37
We Thought We Could Do Anything, 30–31, 36
as writer, 29–31, 35, 43, 44
Ephron, Nora:
on aging, 220–24, 278
as author, see Ephron, Nora, writings of
author’s introduction to, ix, 27–28
and Carl, see Bernstein, Carl
childhood of, 30, 31–32, 39
and Dan, see Greenburg, Dan
death of, 19, 77, 117, 208, 247, 251, 280
dinner parties of, 69–70, 71–74, 78–80, 115, 126–27, 141, 185, 211–13, 232, 265
as director, 6–7, 10, 166, 168–69, 173, 190, 196–201, 202, 210, 214–19, 270; see also specific movies
dying, 1–4, 11–12, 14, 17–19, 116–17, 224, 241, 242–47, 248–52, 256–57, 263–64, 265, 266, 273–82
as editor, 135, 136
family background of, 38–39
and friendship, 81, 111, 118, 229, 263
and Jewishness, 105–8
memorial service for, 180, 275, 279–81
and motherhood, xi, 149, 152, 157, 161–62, 207;
see also Bernstein, Jacob; Bernstein, Max
and music, 267–68, 270
and Nick, see Pileggi, Nicholas
and paradoxes, 267–72
productivity of, 14–15
reputation of, 99
rise to fame, 22, 90, 220–21
roles of, 10–11
as salonnière, 68, 69–70, 71, 78–79, 105, 127
talent of, 66, 69
toughness of, 83–86, 159
traveling with, 137–42
at Wellesley, 42–49, 158, 231
and womanhood, 5–8, 11
Ephron, Nora, writings of:
“A Few Words About Breasts,” 7, 89–91, 94–96, 130, 158, 223
and now . . . Here’s Johnny!, 67
author’s voice in, 22, 63
“Baby,” 7–8
blogs for Huffington Post, 16, 241
bylines, 65–66
clip jobs, 64–65
“Crabs,” 158–59
“Eating and Sleeping with Arthur Frommer,” 62
feature stories, 66
“Helen Gurley Brown Only Wants to Help,” 100
Higgins and Beech, 207, 235–36, 254–55, 269
I Feel Bad About My Neck, 118, 220–24
Imaginary Friends, 68, 207, 210, 226, 232–34, 239, 258
I Remember Nothing, 31, 246, 251–52, 256
and the lede, 15–16
“The Legend,” 33
Lost in Austen, 241, 256, 266
Love, Loss, and What I Wore, 207, 239
Lucky Guy, 47, 207, 218, 237–41, 253–59, 262, 266, 273, 281
“The Mink Coat,” 43, 44
“mouseburger” story, 88
“Mush,” 89, 99
op-ed columns, 16
at the Post, 62–67
process in, 15–17
“Reunion,” 101
“Revision and Life: Take It from the Top Again,” 15
screenplays, see specific movies
Scribble, Scribble, 153
venues for, 17
Wallflower at the Orgy, 22, 23, 27, 91
“Where Bookmen Meet to Eat,” 150
“Women in Israel: The Myth of Liberation,” 103–4, 106–8
Ephron, Phoebe (mother):
career of, x, 33, 36, 43
and children, 31–33
death and dying of, x, 32, 36, 37
as drinker, x, 3, 31, 32, 33, 37–39, 269–70
family background of, 38–39, 177
in Hollywood, 29, 30–31, 35–36, 157–58, 226
Howie, 36–37
letters to Nora, 43–44