I'm not a sentimentalist, and I usually don't get too worked up over the death of a celebrity, which is probably not how Ebert viewed himself, but today when I saw that he had passed, I had to take a moment to breathe deeply and right myself because I didn't want to go all emotional at work.
I just tried to write a paragraph or two about how awesome Ebert was both as a critic and as a human being, and I just couldn't do it. Nothing I wrote seemed good enough to accurately illustrate my affection for the man and the critic. Suffice it to say that there will never be another like him, and that I shall miss him dearly. I knew I would never meet him, but now that I have not and shall not, I'm getting a little weepy.
To Roger: Godspeed, good sir. Be glad you have left that accursed cancer behind. May your theater seat in heaven always be comfy, the screens large and vibrant, the concessions plentiful, and the movies, well, may the movies all be worth five stars.
I'm with you. Most celebrities could go over a California cliff in a burning Camaro with trails of cocaine streaming behind them and I wouldn't mind.
ReplyDeleteThis guy has been part of my life literally for as long as I can remember. I distinctly recall being a kid - 8 or 9 - and always being happy when At the Movies was on PBS. I admired Roger's work, his work ethic, his determination to continue even after some of the most horrific things you can imagine happened to him. He's earned his rest. Now I must go kill Ben Lyons and sprinkle his ashes to the four corners of the world.