Roger Ebert was a prince of a guy. He was absolutely delightful and insightful. A brilliant writer and beautiful soul was he.
He literally took movie review and make it unto itself an art form. He took it to a new height, absolutely another level. His thumbs up was legendary and made or broke a viewing audience. He was a movie powerhouse right here in the middle of the Midwest -- Chicago. He taught us how to appreciate and review a movie. Because of him you either went or you didn't go see the latest film. What did Ebert say? was the appropriate question. His reviews were right on. They were fair and usually right. Whereas, he was an expert on the movie but viewed with a common movie goer perspective.
In days to come you will read about Ebert the great guy and the fabulous writer. But his life was beautifully lived. He taught us how to cope with an illness, not to stop but to keep going, to cope and to adjust. His illness did not cripple him. He kept on writing about his love, the movies. He was not threatened by new media. He conquered it. Tweet, social media and even had a "voice" via the computer. He never lost his voice. He looks were altered via his operations but he was always beautiful to me, with a smiling face.
I love Chaz. Today I read a writing by Roger and it has haunted me all day. He said Chaz, his wife, was his "fact of life." Doesn't get much better than that. They were partners. They were lovers. They loved each other preciously. It was always a joy to be around them to watch their love from jovial, to helpful to supportive. Their parties were to marvel. A good time had by all, always. They married at the middle stage of their lives. Chaz gave us a rich law practice to become his manager. She took him to new heights.
Roger was a role model for us all. And it was about much more than a movie. More than what we lost, we have been enriched because of him. He was much more than a movie critic. He taught life. Bravo. Bravo. Bravo.