Thank you, Sis! One thing I left out from the essay is

Roger was in high spirit. He was a fighter. I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that Roger's wife was black. I thought, how funny that in the years that I hadn't heard about Roger, I had become a wife of a black man. 

I removed it that part. But your comment about his openness reminded me of it. When people use "openness" on him, I can't help thinking it is because of the interracial marriage. They just had their 20 yr anniversary last year. Roger has a love letter to her in his journal. very touching. 
He also made a famous comment about John Mayer regarding black women. google: Roger Ebert: what's not to like?  That's another reason I called the essay "Roger and me" which, according to my hu*****and, is the title of a movie. hehe