Although Ebert was diagnosed with thyroid and salivary cancer in 2002 and had part of his lower jaw removed four years later, which kept him from speaking or eating, he continued to write movies reviews.

TMZ reports that in his final blog entry penned earlier this week, Ebert addressed his illness and essentially said goodbye to his readers, telling them, "It really stinks that the cancer has returned and that I have spent too many days in the hospital.

"So on bad days I may write about the vulnerability that accompanies illness. On good days, I may wax ecstatic about a movie so good it transports me beyond illness."