- “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
- “Death of a Salesman”
- “Catch 22”
Few could dispute that Mike Nichols an amazing director, producing an incredibly diverse range of films and plays. He won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. He received critical acclaim for his direction in The Graduate and popular success for Working Girl. My personal favorite is Biloxi Blues, the story of young men from across the country being thrown together in boot camp during WWII (Every summer I think of Mathew Broderick from NYC trapped in Biloxi Miss complaining “It’s hot. Africa hot. Tarzan couldn’t stand this heat.”)
Actors appreciated his talent for drawing out their talents. He was known to be generous, humorous, intelligent, passionate, inspired and inspiring.
But I’d like to remind you of an additional skill…he managed to take well-loved novels and make them palatable…superior, even. Quite a rare talent.
And perhaps even more importantly to us romance writers–Nichols was quite the ‘hero’ in his personal life. His wife, Diane Sawyer said, “[Mike is] much more romantic than I am. He puts little notes in my sock drawer or in my suitcase before I leave for a work trip. I think one of the most romantic things is simply the way he reaches for my hand all the time.”
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