“To die is one thing. How much worse to know that all the life that ever existed on this planet, and all it ever achieved, was to be obliterated?”

American film critic and journalist, 1942–2013. He became a defining voice of film criticism through his long tenure at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he championed thoughtful, accessible reviews that balanced rigor with warmth. His work extended beyond print to television, where his *Siskel & Ebert* show with Gene Siskel made film discussion a cultural touchstone.