After surgery for cancer of the salivary gland that removed part of his jaw, operations to replace his mandible, and complications from unanticipated bleeding, film critic Roger Ebert “ain’t a pretty boy no more”:

I have been very sick, am getting better and this is how it looks. I still have my brain and my typing fingers.

Although months in bed after the bleeding episodes caused a lack of strength and coordination, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago restored my ability to walk on my own, climb stairs, etc.

I no longer use a walker much and the wheelchair is more for occasional speed and comfort than need. Just today we went for a long stroll in Lincoln Park.

We spend too much time hiding illness. There is an assumption that I must always look the same. I hope to look better than I look now. But I’m not going to miss my festival.

Damn straight. Keep thinking, writing, loving the movies, and helping us to do the same.