Before today, I never knew that Nora Ephron’s husband was Nicholas Pileggi. His name was Nick! They were “Nick and Nora”! That’s wonderful. As you know by now, Nora Ephron has passed away at the age of 71 after a little-discussed battle with leukemia. I didn’t even know she was sick! Nora was a wonderful novelist, essayist, screenwriter, director, humorist, producer, food-lover, friend, mother and wife. This is an epic loss. Here’s People Magazine’s coverage:

Nora Ephron, one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood as the creative force behind such blockbusters as You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally, died on Tuesday at age 71.

The three-time Oscar nominee “passed away June 26, 2012 at 7:40 pm at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center surrounded by her family. The cause of death was acute myeloid leukemia,” her family tells PEOPLE in a statement. “We thank you all for your thoughts.”

A writer and director who was as comfortable with romantic comedies as she was with hard-hitting dramas with social themes, Ephron’s films featured strong female roles that attracted such A-listers as Meg Ryan, Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Cher.

The daughter of playwrights and sister to three other writers, Nora was married and divorced to author Dan Greenberg before marrying Watergate investigative reporter Carl Bernstein. She based her searing novel and screenplay Heartburn on the collapse of their marriage.

She also wrote the screenplays for the drama Silkwood (starring Streep and Cher) about nuclear activist Karen Silkwood, but was best known – and reached the highest levels of success – with her lighter fare.

Described both affectionately – and sometimes not – as “chick flicks,” the wildly successful trio of Harry, Sleepless and Mail (co-written with sister Delia), had Ryan falling in love with Billy Crystal or Tom Hanks – and turned the actress into a mega-star.

Ephron’s last film was the time-shifting Julia Child foodie flick Julie & Julia and in 2008 she wrote a bestseller about aging called I Feel Bad About My Neck.

At the time of her death she was married to her third husband, Goodfellas writer Nicholas Pileggi.

Per the family, donations may be made in her honor to The Public Theater and The Motion Picture and Television Fund.

[From People]

My favorite Nora Ephron work is her book and screenplay for Heartburn. The novel was loosely based on her marriage to Carl Bernstein (of Woodward and Bernstein), and the film starred Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. The book is amazing and hilarious and heartbreaking, and the movie is just wonderful. Several years ago, Nora was on PBS’s Charlie Rose, and it was shortly after Mark Felt had come out and admitted that he was Deep Throat. Nora told Charlie Rose that Carl Bernstein would never tell her who Deep Throat was, but that she had made an educated guess during their marriage, and after they split up (because Carl was a raging philanderer), she told everyone her theory on the identity of Deep Throat – and she was right. That’s just who she was.

Anyway, this is a great loss for Hollywood, for women who love a cheeky romance, and for those of us who just love a great humorist. Nora was beloved and adored, and her loss is being felt all over the world.

Photos courtesy of WENN.