It's easy to over-dramatize a celebrity's death in the immediate aftermath of their passing, and I've seen that happen in the last couple of days. Roger Ebert was, after all, just a movie critic -- but I challenge you to read this and not believe that he was a brilliant and wise man as well.
Partially posted by mk a couple of years ago. However, this version, an expanded excerpt from Ebert's memoir, includes a Van Gogh quote so moving that I don't know what to say about it.
I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world.
This quote, by the way, made me grateful for mk and hubski ... I think they have made others a little happier by providing this forum (and working hours and hours on the hubski link to my blog.) (I hope not too many hours.)
Excellent post -
I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.- Whitman
Important to note that while he was "just a movie critic" - he, together with Siskel, raised the discussion several notches and broadened popular understanding of the movie's ways of telling stories.