On the night Gene Siskel died, Roger Ebert and I spent an hour on the phone together, talking about the loss of our dear friend and lamenting that we never knew how gravely ill he was.

There was no question that Roger respected Gene’s decision to keep the extent of his illness private. But it saddened Roger that he was never able to reach out to Gene in a meaningful way at the end. Just weeks earlier, Gene had told us he was taking an indefinite leave of absence, but was in a hurry to get well “because I don’t want Roger to get more screen time than I.” We both believed he’d be back.

I’ll never know for sure, but I always suspected that Roger’s experience with Gene had a lot to do with how open and forthright he chose to be about his own health problems in the years that followed. He shared everything. Even when some of those closest to him discouraged him from showing his disfigured face in public, Roger set vanity aside and moved forward with courage and grace that inspired us all.

Jim Laski

Jim Laski, the former Chicago alderman and city clerk who served time in federal prison for taking bribes, is resuming his on-again, off-again career in radio. But unlike his ill-fated stint on WGN-AM (720) in 2010, this time he’s paying to put his show on the air.

Starting April 27, he’ll host The Laski Files from 4 to 6pm Saturdays on Newsweb Radio progressive talk WCPT-AM (820). It also will be simulcast on the company’s three FM stations — WCPY-FM (92.5), WCPT-FM (92.7) and WCPQ-FM (99.9).

Roger Ebert

Robservations on the media beat:

• A recurrence of cancer has prompted Roger Ebert to take a leave from his duties as film critic at the Sun-Times. Ebert, 70, who has spent most of his time in the hospital since late last year when he suffered a hip fracture, disclosed on his blog Tuesday that he is slowing down to focus on his health. "The 'painful fracture' that made it difficult for me to walk has recently been revealed to be a cancer," he wrote. "It is being treated with radiation, which has made it impossible for me to attend as many movies as I used to," adding: "It really stinks that the cancer has returned and that I have spent too many days in the hospital." The Chicago treasure and living legend said he will remain active with the launch of Ebert Digital, headed by his wife, Chaz, and will continue to write and review movies on a selected basis. His announcement came on the eve of his 46th anniversary as Sun-Times film critic. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize.

Steve Dahl

Robservations on the media beat:

• Public radio listeners will be in for a shock Monday when they hear who’s hosting The Afternoon Shift on WBEZ-FM (91.5). Broadcasting from his condo in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Steve Dahl will be introduced as the Chicago Public Media station’s new 2 to 4pm weekday replacement for Steve Edwards. Listeners will be told he’s been signed to a long-term multimillion-dollar deal. "I don't know what you're talking about!" Dahl said when I asked him about taking part in the first April Fools stunt in his 35-year Chicago radio career. (Business reporter Niala Boodhoo starts for real as interim host of The Afternoon Shift on Tuesday.) The pranksters at WBEZ offered the April Fools morning show to Ed Volkman and Joe Bohannon, who declined. “Jobo didn't want [us] to ‘parody ourselves’ or ‘seem desperate,’ " Volkman told me. Instead, the morning show will parody Lin Brehmer’s opening day broadcasts for WXRT-FM (93.1) from a fictitious Wrigleyville bar.