A couple of generations back, a typical American family might consist of a mom, a dad, and 2.4 kids.
But as the divorce rate rose a new American family archetype emerged: the so-called “blended family.”
There was now a new dynamic that included stepparents, stepchildren, step-siblings, exes and new mates…
And absolutely no owner’s manual to describe how all those pieces are supposed to fit together.
That was the brave new world that writer Delia Ephron stepped into in 1982 when she became a stepmother.
And it wasn’t long before Ephron, a talented writer who had already written several books, realized she needed to write a book about this.
In 1986 Delia Ephron wrote that book, which she called Funny Sauce. I met her that fall when she was on a book tour.
So here now, from 1986, Delia Ephron.
In the years that followed our interview, Delia Ephron wrote screenplays for movies like “You’ve Got Mail,” “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,”” and “Hanging Up.”
And she produced “Sleepless in Seattle,” written by her big sister Nora.
Delia Ephron is now 80. Her most recent book was published in 2022.