Roger Ebert is a Rock Star

Roger Ebert was diagnosed with cancer last year and has gone through hell to get better. He was forced to have part of his jaw amputated and because of that, and surgery to fix the problem, he is unable to speak. He knows that illness has ravaged his looks but he isn’t hiding and rather is coming out to the media as an example of going on with your life in the face of illness.

My Ninth Annual Overlooked Film Festival opens Wednesday night at the University of Illinois at Urbana, and Chaz and I will be in attendance. This year I won’t be speaking, however, as I await another surgery. I have received a lot of advice that I should not attend the festival. I’m told that paparazzi will take unflattering pictures, people will be unkind, etc.

I love that he still has a great sense of humor. He goes to say that it is the most important thing for him to be at his film festival and be surrounded by friends, well-wishers, and even the pesky gossip rags.

At least, not being able to speak, I am spared the need to explain why every film is “overlooked,” or why I wrote “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.” Being sick is no fun. But you can have fun while you’re sick. I wouldn’t miss the festival for anything! 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.”

Get Better!