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Roger Ebert at his Overlooked Film Festival

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I love Roger Ebert and his courage.  He recently made his first public appearance in a long time (at his Overlooked Film Festival at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana) after many surgeries related to cancer of the salivary gland.  This is what he wrote this in the Sun-Times last week:

So let’s talk turkey. What will I look like? To paraphrase a line from “Raging Bull,” I ain’t a pretty boy no more. (Not that I ever was. The original appeal of “Siskel & Ebert” was that we didn’t look like we belonged on TV.)

What happened was, cancer of the salivary gland spread to my right lower jaw. A segment of the mandible was removed. Two operations to replace the missing segment were unsuccessful, both leading to unanticipated bleeding.

A tracheostomy was necessary so, for the time being, I cannot speak. I make do with written notes and a lot of hand waving and eye-rolling. The doctors now plan an approach that does not involve the risk of unplanned bleeding. If all goes well, my speech will be restored

So when I turn up in Urbana, I will be wearing a gauze bandage around my neck, and my mouth will be seen to droop. So it goes.

I was told photos of me in this condition would attract the gossip papers. So what?

I have been very sick, am getting better and this is how it looks. I still have my brain and my typing fingers.

Although months in bed after the bleeding episodes caused a lack of strength and coordination, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago restored my ability to walk on my own, climb stairs, etc.

I no longer use a walker much and the wheelchair is more for occasional speed and comfort than need. Just today we went for a long stroll in Lincoln Park.

We spend too much time hiding illness. There is an assumption that I must always look the same. I hope to look better than I look now. But I’m not going to miss my festival....

P.S. to gossip rags: I have some back pain, and to make it easier for me to sit through screenings, the festival has installed my very own La-Z-Boy chair.

Photos of me in the chair should be captioned “La-Z-Critic.”

I think many people write Ebert off because of the "Thumbs Up/Down" thing has been a marketing tool, but he has always been a critic who passionately loves the movies.  I've been reading his reviews since I became acquainted with the interwebs and while I may not agree with him about many films, his criticisms have always challenged me to look at films more carefully.

Links:  Roger Ebert's Great Movies page, Chicagoist's Get Well Roger Ebert photo project