Showbiz411

At least her family will know she’s appreciated: in the last few hours, most of Nora Ephron’s books have shot into the Amazon.com top 20 after being completely off the best seller lists. “Heartburn,” “I Remember Nothing,” “I Feel Bad About My Neck,” are all in top 20 paperbacks. “Wallflower at the Orgy” is number 100. The only one lagging behind is “Crazy Salad.” Otherwise, readers are literally scooping up the entire Ephron canon like crazy. Ephron was eulogized today at the AOL/PBS lunch for their new “Makers” series honoring Gloria Steinem, Tina Brown, Katie Couric, Arianna Stassinopolous, artist Faith Ringgold and other movers and shakers among women in media, the arts, and advertising. Barbara Walters spoke eloquently about Ephron and their monthly “Harpies” lunch that also included Liz Smith and Peggy Siegal. (She also joked that J. Fred Muggs, the chimp on the Today show in the 50s, was “gay but no one could discuss it.”) A clip was shown of Ephron being interviewed for the series. “When I first started directing, there were like three female directors,” she said, proudly. “Now there are maybe 40.” PS The books are also doing very well on Barnesandnoble.com. And on iTunes/iBooks, “Heartburn” is number 32, and “I Remember Nothing” is number 35, which is sort of amazing.

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.