HIS VOICE ECHOES

Ebert Teaches Young Critics The Courage Of Convictions

By Calhoun Kersten

Calhoun ESQUIRE delivers a premature obituary on Roger Ebert, one of journalism's foremost film critics.

Cancer has taken away his jaw and his ability to speak, but he remains a persistent force in criticism as he continues to write.

The mag's piece is a lovely if slightly overwrought look at the man and the legend. Ebert was the first journalist to earn the Pulitzer Prize for film criticism. As a writer myself, I can only dare to achieve the kind of status or loyalty that Ebert has won with his insightful writing. But this isn't about me.

Though Ebert lost his ability to speak in 2006, his passion for film and writing remains fierce. And though Esquire’s testament to Ebert reads like a grim eulogy, it’s refreshing to see the man appreciated in his own time.

For as long as I can remember whenever I told folks that I was going to school for film studies, I always got this blank look like, "What does that mean?" I could also dismiss their confusion with a nonchalant "Like what Ebert does." What always followed then was a reassuring nod of acknowledgment.

But Ebert offered me more than just an answer to "What the hell are you doing with your life?" He awakened a passion for film that went beyond Orson Welles and Fellini.

Most importantly, he taught me the value of my own opinion. After all, isn't that what film reviewing about: the conviction of a writer’s assertions.

Ebert has turned reviewing into an art form. Without him, film review as it exists today wouldn't be half as personal or as meaningful.

Without him, I might never have found the courage to express my own convictions. Thank you, Mr. Ebert, for that and more.

Calhoun Kersten is a Cincinnati, Ohio, native who now calls Chicago home. A recent graduate of Columbia College, he blogs at Confessions Of A Self-Proclaimed Megalomaniac.