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Tim Russert

Top headline on Drudge provides quite a shock, Tim Russert, the host of Meet the Press has died at age 58. He was a titanic presence in Washington journalism, especially since taking over the influential Sunday talk-show in 1991. Russert grew up in South Buffalo, New York and was molded by the sort of Catholic […]

Top headline on Drudge provides quite a shock, Tim Russert, the host of Meet the Press has died at age 58. He was a titanic presence in Washington journalism, especially since taking over the influential Sunday talk-show in 1991.

Russert grew up in South Buffalo, New York and was molded by the sort of Catholic education that his parents and the Church could give a talented son of the working class. He moved from Canisius High School in Buffalo, New York to John Carroll University, and later Cleveland State University where he completed his law degree. He moved up in New York Democratic politics, working for both Mary Cuomo and Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He began his career at NBC’s Washington bureau in 1984. During NBC’s 2000 election coverage, he famously took out his marker-board to calculate the possible electoral vote totals. By the time of his death, Meet the Press was itself a kind of Sunday service for the political class and the chaterati that follow them.

He is survived by his wife, Maureen, and his son Luke.

Without ever taking Sunday talk-shows very seriously as sources of news and information, I enjoyed Russert as the host of Meet the Press. While on vacation a few years ago, I stole a copy of his book from one of my fellow beach-goers. Big Russ and Me is a tribute to Russert’s father and days spent in a working class Irish-American neighborhood. Russert’s recollections made for perfectly amiable beach reading – even if it often felt as if the purpose of the book was to reflect well on the son. Like all things regular and reassuring, his presence will be missed.

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