I learned of the death of two people who had a tremendous impact on my life last week: One you've heard of and one you probably haven't. Both helped me understand myself a little better when I was a teenager and then, unexpectedly, taught me something about death and dying as an adult.

With Roger Ebert no longer with us, who remains with the same ability, drive and bravery to inspire our city to rise above our many, many challenges and overcome our differences?

We feel the losses of television icons in a different way than we do our movie stars, politicians, and newsmakers. Our television hosts tend to be our neighbors, like the late Mister Rogers would sing.

Roger was one of us; a Midwesterner, a Chicagoan. A city whose name has been sullied by the likes of Capone, Springer and Blagojavech, could not ask for a better, more redemptive ambassador.