April 05, 2013|By Rick Kogan | Tribune reporter
It was reviewing movies that made Roger Ebert as famous and wealthy as many of the stars who felt the sting or caress of his pen or were the recipients of his televised thumbs-up or thumbs-down judgments.
But in words and in life he displayed the soul of a poet whose passions and interests extended far beyond the darkened theaters where he spent so much of his professional life.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning movie critic for the Chicago Sun-Times for more than 45 years, and for more than three decades the co-host of one of the most powerful programs in television history (initially with the late Gene Siskel, the Chicago Tribune's movie critic), Ebert died Thursday in Chicago. He was 70 years old and was no stranger to hospitals. In his later years he was beset by a series of maladies, including cancer, and many operations that robbed him of parts of his face and the ability to speak (he was a celebrated conversationalist), eat and drink (he was prodigiously accomplished at both) and take long walks in foreign cities (London and Venice, most romantically).
Still, his death was a shock, coming only two days after he posted a relatively buoyant update on his popular rogerebert.com blog indicating that, even though his cancer had returned, he optimistically and hopefully would be taking �a leave of presence.�
�It means I am not going away,� Ebert wrote. �... I'll be able at last to do what I've always fantasized about doing: reviewing only the movies I want to review.�
He was also looking forward to the 15th annual Roger Ebert's Film Festival later this month in Champaign-Urbana.
At the news of his death, the Internet was flooded with tributes and memories, local TV and radio stations broke format to cover the story, and statements were issued.
�Michelle and I are saddened to hear about the passing of Roger Ebert,� President Barack Obama said in a statement. �For a generation of Americans � and especially Chicagoans � Roger was the movies.�
Mayor Rahm Emanuel in his statement said, �Roger championed Chicago as a center for filmmaking and critiques. � (He) will be remembered for the strength of his work, respected for his courage in the face of illness, and revered for his contribution to filmmaking and to our city. The final reel of his life may have run through to the end, but his memory will never fade.�
Gov. Pat Quinn's statement offered this: �Roger Ebert was a great man. No doubt Gene Siskel is saving him a seat in the balcony upstairs.�
�We are touched by all the kindness and the outpouring of love we've received,� wrote Ebert's wife, Chaz.
�I am devastated by the loss of my love, Roger � my husband, my friend, my confidante and oh-so-brilliant partner of over 20 years.�
Prolific almost to the point of inspiring disbelief � the Sun-Times often featured as many as nine Ebert reviews on a given Friday, in addition to periodic interviews and potent pieces for the opinion pages � Ebert was arguably the most powerful movie critic in the history of that art form. He was also the author of 17 books, a contributor to various magazines, author of a lively and award-winning blog, active in all forms of social media and an inspiring teacher and lecturer at the University of Chicago.
�Many people don't know, because Roger's movie reviews became so famous, that he was also a magnificent writer of magazine profiles,� said Roger Simon, a former Sun-Times columnist, colleague, friend and now chief political columnist for Politico. �I remember his early stuff for Esquire, especially. I used to study the structure and especially how he handled dialogue.�
Simon and his wife, Marcia Kramer, another former Ebert colleague, had paid visits to Ebert over the last few years. �He was always in good spirits as we remembered old friends and wild times. He once told me, �All writing is a journey. You take the reader by the hand and you lead him somewhere. And you want to make sure he never lets go of your hand.' �
Roger Joseph Ebert was born in the central Illinois city of Urbana on June 18, 1942, the only child of Walter, an electrician, and Annabel, a bookkeeper.
His passion for journalism sparked early. He published his own neighborhood paper while in grammar school and in high school was co-editor of the school paper, published a science fiction fanzine and wrote for The News-Gazette in Champaign. His desire to attend Harvard University thwarted by his parents' inability to afford that Ivy League institution, he attended the nearby University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, majoring in journalism and becoming editor of the campus paper, The Daily Illini, where Simon and Kramer would later work.
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