I follow his blog regularly. My impression is that he has accepted that he will never be able to speak (normally) nor eat, but none of this is life threatening.
When I was 15 I used to antagonize him back on Compuserve. At the time I loved Johnny Mnemonic and he of course trashed it because it wasn’t a great movie. 
I remember him taking it all in good humor. From that point on I always had a soft spot for the guy. I kind of miss those days of the early internet where you could easily talk to celebrities online because it hadn’t become a huge morass just yet. Roger Ebert is a very cool cat.
Skimming the comments:
Bwahahaha.
I give him a lot of credit for bucking the American value of hiding illness and pain. (See also: Dick Clark.) He makes public appearances even though he has obviously lost a large part of his jaw, and he isn’t ashamed or embarrassed about it. We would do well to respect his example.
He’s battled thyroid cancer… of the cancers that is tied to obesity. He’s always struck me as a very reasonable guy, and he always struck me as the kind of guy that wouldn’t go ‘woe is me’.
I am glad to be able to read his insights and get his perspective on everything he is going through.
I agree.
Although, when I said something remotely close to this on NY Eve while Dick Clark was on TV, a majority of the people at the party thought I was nuts. The consensus seemed to be that Dick Clark shouldn’t embarrass himself like that and that he should be in hiding somewhere.
There was no way to even express how ‘embarrass’ shouldn’t even be part of the equation. How could I not realize the obvious! See, Dick Clark should not be a public figure because of the issues leftover from the stroke. That’s as far as the thought process could go.
Never mind the fact that people like Dick and Roger are extracting some happiness from life (aren’t we all?), and that they are making people happy, or more informed. Yeah, to me Roger’s thoughts are awesome, and even Dick inspires people. But to so many, they need to just go away (so people can pretend like reality doesn’t exist).
Well, Roger Ebert was known for his opinions, knowledge, insight, and writing ability (not every film critic gets a Pulitzer Prize). He was never known for his physical attractiveness. Dick Clark, on the other hand, made his name as a youthful, good-looking, well-spoken television personality. His persona as “the eternal teenager” endured for decades. Of course there was more to him than that; he also produced his own shows and ran his own businesses, but most people who do that stay behind the scenes and are well-known within the industry. The reasons he’s famous are superficial. Suggesting that he retire now that he has lost the attributes on which he built his career isn’t entirely unreasonable.
And Catherine the Great is known for having sex with a horse. Doesn’t make it true.
I’ve been wondering this for a long time.
What was Ebert’s last recorded episode of his show with Roeper? What movies did he review in his last show, even though he did not know it was the last one?
And what was Siskel’s last show? What movies did he review?
Love the blog. I post there quite frequently.
Not sure, but I remember Siskel calling in a review from his hospital bed.
Wow. His blog was beautiful.
And it made me thirsty for a frosty mug of root beer.
And I remember him saying he would be back soon because he didn’t want Ebert to get more camera time than him. I don’t remember what either guys’ final movie reviews were(filmed ones, I mean).
Quick Wiki check hasn’t turned the details up on that one. I may keep looking.
Checking IMDB, the last episode to list Ebert as a host is the one dated January 21, 2006, and references or features the following films:
Above, Zsofia mentioned that he has "obviously lost a large piece of his jaw**. I wasn’t aware of this, so I went to google images to find out what the deal is. Ran me right into this blog entry.
Opens with:
I’m bumping this thread to link to this long profile on Ebert from Esquire. It goes into a lot of detail on what his life is like these days and what his state of mind is.
Wow. Bless that man, I am in awe of this life well lived.
Page 6 of the Esquire article was painful to read. It appears that Disney may have pulled the clips of Ebert’s first show alone, without Siskel, out of Ebert’s tribute to his old friend. What a good, and sad, description of Ebert trying to scream voicelessly.
Wait.
His condition is worsening? Is he really dying?
He has updated his blog about the article:
No, his blog made that clear. He really likes the Esquire piece, but did a :smack: because people think he’s dying.
Quote: “I don’t mind people knowing what I look like, but I don’t want them thinking I’m dying.”
ETA: Part of the problem is that they referred to “his last words” meaning that he lost his ability to speak, but people think it meant his “dying words”.