The filmmaker died earlier this week after losing her secret battle with acute myeloid leukemia, and Hanks, who starred in Ephron's films "Sleepless in Seattle" and "You've Got Mail", was among the celebrities who offered up condolences, reported Digital Spy online.
He has now written a lengthy tribute piece for Time magazine saying he was only made aware of Ephron's talents after Wilson took him to a screening in 1992.
"As wives are wont to do, mine announced one evening in 1992 that we were going to a movie. The movie was 'This Is My Life', the writer and first-time director was Nora Ephron, and within the hour, there we were in the cinema watching the opening credits of a middle-aged-chick flick," Hanks said.
"Knowing and loving Nora meant her world - or her neighborhood - became yours. She gave you books to read and took you to cafes you'd never heard of that became legends," he added.
