Ebert, nation’s best-known film critic, dies at 70 – Toshiba By CARYN ROUSSEAU, The Associated Press, Thursday, April 4, 2013 9:06 PM EDT

The heavy-set writer in the horn-rimmed glasses teamed up on television with Gene Siskel to create a format for criticism that proved enormously appealing in its simplicity: uncomplicated reviews that were both intelligent and accessible and didn’t talk down to ordinary movie fans. …

"So on this day of reflection I say again, thank you for going on this journey with me. I’ll see you at the movies." Ebert wrote Tuesday on his blog. …

Fans admired his courage, but Ebert told The Associated Press that bravery had "little to do with it."

"You play the cards you’re dealt," Ebert wrote in an email in January 2011. "What’s your choice? I have no pain. I enjoy life, and why should I complain?" …

"I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state," he wrote. "I am grateful for the gifts of intelligence, love, wonder and laughter. You can’t say it wasn’t interesting."

Ebert, nation’s best-known film critic, dies at 70 – Toshiba