It’s kind of a shame to see one of the greatest, most distinctive voices silenced forever, but whatever you do, don’t feel bad for Roger Ebert (except for when he has to screen a Uwe Boll movie). While he is no longer able to eat or drink or speak, he’s still able to write, and write he has been. Whether at his blog or at his normal reviews column, not even several bouts with jaw and mouth cancer can silence one of the foremost film critics of all time. Life is harder for Roger Ebert than it ever has been, yet he’s never written so eloquently, and that’s saying something considering he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1978. His incredibly moving profile in Esquire Magazine is a must-read.
Like Ebert, my grandmother was a throat and jaw cancer survivor. When she was diagnosed in the early 1980’s, this sort of radical surgery and difficult cancer to beat was basically a death sentence, yet she lived another 20 years or more after surviving her ordeal. She was never able to really eat much in the way of solid foods after that, but she was able to eat a little something, gravy and lots of instant breakfast and Ensure. She could even speak, though she was difficult for the uninitiated to understand. She was very lucky, in more ways than one.
I guess that’s why the profile was such a hard read for me. I’ve never been an Ebert fan (I was more a Siskel guy), but since his cancer he’s gotten so much better, and I guess I’ve become more empathetic, that I really kind of hope for the best for the guy. To see that familiar expression on his face is just heartbreaking.
Tags: Roger Ebert, Hollywood, interviews, Roger Ebert’s blog, film critics, celebrities, Esquire Magazine, jaw cancer, cancer survivors
