My profound regrets over the death earlier today of producer Laura Ziskin, 61, from cancer. I never thought of her as a friend but she trusted me as far as it went when I called for help on various Entertainment Weekly, L.A. Times and People magazine stories in the ’90s . She dealt with me fairly, considerately, respectfully, and I tried to return those tributes in kind.

Ziskin’s producing credits included Hero (’92), To Die For (’95), As Good As It Gets (’97), the three Spider-Man films, the 2002 and 2007 Oscar awards and Stealth (’05). Actually, she wouldn’t take my calls about Stealth, a Rob Cohen-directed actioner that cost $138 million, was critically savaged and became a significant financial flop.

Ziskin was diagnosed with cancer in ’04 but kept her hand in. Her final credit will be 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man.