Roger may have published widely in Spectator, Chaff, and The Daily Illini, but there is another source in the University Archives that gives us a much better view of his thought processes and inner drives.
Just as he started to face major life decisions, he began corresponding Dan Curley, his faculty mentor. Roger reveals his inner self in these letters, providing intriguing insights into his published works. Indeed, the University Archives’s Daniel Curley Papers are an especially rich asset for understanding Roger as he moved from local celebrity to the career in which he earned international fame.
“A turning point in my life came at 8:00 a.m. on the first day of classes at the university, when I walked into English 101, taught by Daniel Curley. He would become my mentor and the friend of a lifetime.”
Roger Ebert, Life Itself, 2011
