Roger Ebert

By Jae-Ha Kim
jaehakim.com
April 4, 2013

My former colleague, Roger Ebert, passed away today. He was a very smart, funny and kind man, with a wicked sense of blue humor. He was receiving medical treatment when I got married, and couldn’t attend our wedding. He and his lovely wife, Chaz, sent us an area carpet, which we dubbed “The Ebert Rug.”

When I was a kid (maybe 10 or 11 years old), I disagreed with a review of Roger’s. I wrote him a letter, detailing what I disliked about his review. He was kind enough not only to read it, but to send back an encouraging letter. But he stood by his review and told me why.

When I was in my early 20’s, I did some work as an extra in films and TV. One of my jobs was to be in the opening credits for one of the incarnations of the Siskel and Ebert show. It began to rain. The production team shuffled Gene and Roger into a warm trailer, leaving the extras outside. It was Roger who came out and got us.

Years later, when I was a young reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times, I was sent to review a film. I went to the screening room and sat in the first chair I saw. I didn’t realize then that it was Roger’s chair, where he always sat to screen films. He playfully nudged me and told me to scoot over two seats. That’s where he always sat.

I will miss him very much. He was a great journalist and critic, but he was an even better man.

Rest in peace.

© 2013 JAE-HA KIM | All Rights Reserved