Remembering Roger Ebert (a fan of Louise Brooks)

I'll never forget the first time I met Roger Ebert, which was some years ago, as this snapshot testifies. 

At the time, I introduced myself as the director of Louise Brooks Society. Roger and I had the chance to chat for a bit, and he told me how much he liked visiting my Louise Brooks Society website, and how, on a few occasions, he had used the site while looking things up about the actress and her best known film, Pandora's Box. I was pleased. Roger was encouraging, and he also told me of his own affection for and interest in Louise Brooks. 

I encountered Ebert a few more times over the years, and continued to read his articles and columns. Ebert wrote about Louise Brooks a few times, while praising both Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl as great films. If you haven't already read his glowing reviews on those two films, then search them out. They have, in the past, been found on his website (which is unavailable as I write this - though here are links to Pandora's Box to Diary of a Lost Girl), as well as in his series of books, Great Movies and Great Movies II.

Ebert has also tweeted about Louise Brooks and her two famous films.

And a little more than a year ago, Ebert tweeted three times about the actress and Diary of a Lost Girl.

@ebertchicago:My Streamer of the Day. "Diary of a Lost Girl," a silent masterpiece with the immortal Louise Brooks. on.fb.me/GH64U0

@ebertchicago: New in my Great Movies Collection: Louise Brooks in Pabst's "Diary of a Lost Girl." Remorseless. On Netflix Instant. bit.ly/GHbzQK

@ebertchicago: The latest review in my Great Movies Collection: Louise Brooks in the unforgettable "Diary of a Lost Girl." bit.ly/GHbzQK

Ebert has also written about another Brooks' film, The Show-Off, in his "Ebert Club Newsletter." In 2010, Ebert wrote "Notice that whenever Louise Brooks is on screen, you simply can't focus on anyone else..."

I was also honored when Ebert tweeted about some of my own writings about Louise Brooks, mentioning and linking to stories I had written for the Huffington Post on Beggars of Life and on the Brooks' journals for examiner.com. Today, the world lost a great champion of the movies. And a big fan of Louise Brooks.