![]() ![]() Still, at each turn that could potentially generate a glare or a smirk, Ebert’s humility again surfaces and soothes. ![]() But he does not use “Life Itself’’ to defend himself against accusations that he violated his own rules at least once in his career by selecting Richard Roeper, who was a Sun-Times columnist and not a professional critic, to replace Siskel, who died in 1999. Ebert has stood against the growing corps of nonprofessional critics being given public forums to air views that he considers ill-informed. Those put off by Ebert’s somewhat imperious manner and tough critical standards will be disappointed that he fails to explain what appears to be a lapse in his own professional code. I found myself wishing like a kid reading “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’’ for the first time that I could have been Ebert’s friend on Washington Street in Urbana, wishing that I could have attended the annual Duncan Yo-Yo competition by his side, wishing that I could have been among the neighborhood children following his version of the pied piper around the block as he read aloud with dramatic flourish from classic literature and delivered his self-published paper, the Washington Street News. One of the things I found most touching was Ebert’s description of his life before the spotlight and his unmatched ability to make his simple childhood adventures seem more interesting than yours or mine. ![]()
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