Tim Russert (Meet the Press) dies at 58

Shortly after 1:30 EDT on the afternoon of June 13, 2008, Russert collapsed at the offices of WRC-TV, which houses the Washington, D.C. bureau of NBC News where he was the Bureau Chief, while recording voiceovers for the Sunday edition of Meet the Press. The District of Columbia Fire and Rescue service received a call from NBC at 1:40 and dispatched an EMS unit which arrived at 1:44. The responding paramedics attempted to defibrillate Russert's heart three times on scene before transporting him to Sibley Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at 2:23.

In accordance with American journalistic tradition, the public announcement of Russert's death was withheld by both the wire services and his network's competitors until his family was notified.[24] Retired NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw delivered, live on NBC, CNBC and MSNBC, the news of his passing.[25] Russert had just returned from a family vacation in Italy, where he went to celebrate his son's graduation from Boston College.[26] While his wife and son remained in Italy, Russert returned to prepare for his Sunday television show.

Russert's long time friend and physician, Dr. Michael Newman, said that he had asymptomatic coronary artery disease that was controlled with medication and exercise and that he had performed well on a stress test in late April. An autopsy performed on the day of his death determined that his history of coronary artery disease led to sudden cardiac death with the immediate cause being an occlusive coronary thrombus in the left anterior descending artery, resulting from a ruptured cholesterol plaque.

Wikinews has related news:
Tim Russert, NBC News "Meet the Press" moderator dies at age 58. A public wake is scheduled for June 17 at St. Albans School in Washington, following by a private funeral mass and burial on the morning of June 18. A private memorial service will take place on the afternoon of June 18 at the Kennedy Center and is scheduled to be televised live on MSNBC.

Early life

Russert was born in Buffalo, New York to Irish American Catholic parents Elizabeth, a homemaker, and Timothy Joseph "Big Russ" Russert, a sanitation worker and newspaper truck driver. He received a Jesuit education. from Canisius High School in Buffalo. He received his B.A. from John Carroll University and his Juris Doctor from Cleveland State University Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Russert commented on Meet the Press that he went to Woodstock, "in a Buffalo Bills jersey with a case of beer." Russert was admitted to the bar in New York and the District of Columbia. While in law school, an official from his alma mater, John Carroll University, called Russert to ask if he could book some concerts for the school as he had done while a student. He agreed, but said he would need money because he was running out of money to pay for law school. One concert that Russert booked was headlined by a then-unknown singer, Bruce Springsteen, who charged $2,500 for the concert appearance. Russert told this story to Jay Leno when he was a guest on the The Tonight Show on NBC on June 6, 2006. On September 28, 2007, Springsteen and the E Street Band played live on the Today show in Rockefeller Plaza, and Russert could be seen listening to the music in casual dress toward the front of the stage.

Personal life

One of Russert's books, Big Russ & Me
Russert's last book, Wisdom of Our FathersRussert met Maureen Orth at the 1976 Democratic National Convention; they married in 1983. Orth has been a special correspondent for Vanity Fair since 1993. Their son, Luke, named after Buffalo Bisons slugger Luke Easter, graduated from Boston College in 2008 and hosts the XM radio show 60/20 Sports with James Carville.

Russert penned a bestselling autobiography, Big Russ and Me, in 2004 , which chronicled his life growing up in a predominantly Irish working-class neighborhood in South Buffalo and his education at Canisius High School. Russert's father, a World War II veteran who held down two jobs after the war, emphasized the importance of maintaining strong family values through the methods of the "carrot and the stick", the reverence of faith, and of never taking a short cut to reach a goal. Russert claimed to have received over 60,000 letters from people in response to the book, detailing their own experiences with their fathers. He released Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons in 2005, a collection of some of these letters, which also became a bestseller.

He appeared briefly in a scene on the television drama Homicide as himself. On that show, one of the fictional characters, Megan Russert, was supposedly his cousin. Russert also appeared on the Nickelodeon game show What Would You Do?

Russert grew up as a New York Yankees fan, switching his allegiance to the Nationals when they were established in Washington, DC. He was a Nationals and Washington Wizards season ticket holder. He was elected to the board of directors of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 2003.

He and his family lived in northwest Washington, D.C. and also spent time at a vacation home on Nantucket island, where he served on the board of several non-profit organizations. As of 2008, his 6,220-square-foot (578 m²) Nantucket home was valued at $7.2 million.

Russert, a devout and faithful Catholic, admitted many times to having made a promise to God to never miss Sunday Mass if his son were born healthy. In his writing and in his news reporting, Russert spoke openly and fondly of his Catholic school education and of the role of the Catholic Church in his life. He was an outspoken supporter of Catholic education on all levels. [23] He said that his father, a sanitation worker who never finished high school, "worked two jobs all his life so his four kids could go to Catholic school, and those schools changed my life." He also spoke warmly of Catholic nuns who taught him. "Sister Mary Lucille founded a school newspaper and appointed me editor and changed my life," he said. Teachers in Catholic schools "taught me to read and write, but also how to tell right from wrong."

Russert also contributed his time and to numerous Catholic charities. He was particularly devoted and concerned for the welfare of street kids in the United States and children whose lives were lost in gun violence.[23] He told church workers attending the 2005 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering that "if there's an issue that Democrats, Republicans, conservatives and liberals can agree on, it's our kids."

Before returning to the United States from his trip to Italy just before his death he had an audience with Pope Benedict XVI. He had been scheduled to give the Catholic Common Ground Initiative's Philip J. Murnion Lecture on June 27, 2008 at The Catholic University of America.

Career

Russert graduated with honors from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and then worked on New York Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan's successful senatorial campaign in 1976. He served as Moynihan's chief of staff to from 1977 to 1982. He then worked on New York Democrat Mario Cuomo's successful gubernatorial campaign in 1982, and was counselor in the governor's office in Albany from 1983 to 1984. He left politics and joined the NBC Washington Bureau in 1984. In 1985 he arranged for Pope John Paul II's first interview on American television. He became Washington Bureau Chief in 1988 and was later promoted to the position of senior vice president of NBC News.

Russert took over the Sunday morning program Meet the Press in 1991, and would become the longest serving host of the program. Its name was changed to Meet the Press with Tim Russert, and, at his suggestion, went to an hour-long format in 1992. Russert was known especially for his extensive research in preparation for interviews. One approach he developed was to find old quotes or video clips that were inconsistent with guests' more recent statements, present them on-air to his guests and then ask them to clarify their positions. Russert often moderated political campaign debates as well.

During NBC's coverage of the 2000 presidential election, Russert calculated possible United States Electoral College outcomes on a marker board on the air and memorably summed up the outcome as dependent upon "Florida, Florida, Florida." Russert again accurately predicted the final battleground of the presidential elections of 2004: "Ohio, Ohio, Ohio." On the MSNBC show Tucker, Russert predicted the battleground states of the 2008 presidential election would be New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada, saying, "If Democrats can win three of those four, they can lose Ohio and Florida, and win the presidency."

An avid fan of the Buffalo Bills football team, Russert usually closed Sunday broadcasts during the football season with some type of pro-Bills comment. The team released a statement that listening to Russert's "Go Bills" exhortations was part of their Sunday morning game preparation. He had also ended his show by mentioning the successes of Boston College football, baseball, and hockey.

During his career, Russert received 48 honorary doctorates and won several awards for excellence in journalism including the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association, the John Peter Zenger Freedom of the Press Award, the American Legion Journalism Award, the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society Journalism Award, the Allen H. Neuharth Award for Excellence in Journalism, the David Brinkley Award for Excellence in Communication and the Catholic Academy for Communication's Gabriel Award.[5] Russert also received an Emmy Award in 2005 for his coverage of the funeral of former President Ronald Reagan.

Tributes to Tim Russert

Tim Russert Continues To Teach and Lead :: Truly A Treasure

For the sake of TV journalism, Tim Russert was one of the few remaining shining stars, in my opinion.

Yes, I am a fan. Tim Russert died Friday at the age of 58 in the NBC Washington studios after taping segments for this weekend’s shows - Meet the Press and Tim Russert.

Russert produced great television, whether it was for Today, MSNBC or Meet The Press. Certainly, even more impressive about Russert was his love for his family and friends. In that respect, he was even more of a giant.

Lots of lessons to learn from this sad loss. For PR students, it can serve as a call to gaining great lessons from Russert, even though he has passed. His remarkable grasp of history and perspective is, after all, one of the characteristics that made Russert so great.

You know, I fear that students today - especially some PR students - are not the news junkies (particularly hard news and politics) that we oldsters developed into. I hope that students will go back and watch old Meet The Press programs (they are on iTunes, for free). You don’t need an iPod, just your computer. Search for NBC News and you’ll find the podcasts. Another resource? Quite simply, and I know this might sound strange to some - at first, this page - the New York Times Obituary page - should be daily reading for all students of PR and journalism. It is, after all, a page filled with history and great people. My point? Read, read and read some more. Watch the videos. Consume the news. Gain that historical perspective we all need.

Russert is, in his own way, showed as much promise as classic news presences like Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid and Howard K. Smith.  He was just taken too soon.  He was as great as, if not better than, the other legends in Sunday morning talk like Bill Shadel, Lawerence Spivak and all who followed them.

His shows were must watch, required viewing programs. If you, like me, are a news junkie, Russert was someone you had to watch, even as much as you wanted to watch. Russert knew when to sit back and let people talk, especially when he knew it would mean their own undoing. His questioning skills / interviewing prowess was quite simply amazing.

For NBC - especially MSNBC, the loss is devastating. Only Tom Brokaw remains as someone that can come on the air and you know, you absolutely trust, the truth is being told. Oh, there are certainly other trustworthy people at NBC, to be sure. But, no one there has the presence of Russert and Brokaw.

The New York Times has a photo slideshow of Tim Russert memories. The Washington Post has a great series of video interview clips that share Russert’s wonderful personality. MSNBC has spent the entire weekend saluting Russert’s great contributions to TV journalism and his love of family and friends. Truly, to watch all of those from that tight NBC family react to Russert’s passing, this loss represents a terrible blow to their very foundation. Here’s hoping they can recover.

Russert will be missed. One can only hope that those that remain behind will endeavor to follow his example - in every way, be it work, family or life, overall.

Robert-

Tim Russert and Fatherhood: A Tribute

Gordon E Finley, Ph.D.

Tim Russert, internationally respected political analyst and moderator of NBC News’ ‘Meet the Press,’ died unexpectedly and prematurely at age 58 on Friday the thirteenth of June 2008 — the day preceding the Father’s Day weekend — at work.  Russert likely best will be remembered as the longest-running host of one of television’s most intensely incisive political interview programs.  In my view, however, he should best be remembered as a son, father, and one of the most positive exemplars of and advocates for fathers and their importance in children’s lives.

Russert was born on May 7, 1950.  By historical and social chance, his life spanned the golden years of fatherhood beginning in the decade of the 1950’s — when fathers and married family life were portrayed in the most positive of lights — and continued through two score and eight years during which fathers increasingly were depreciated, demeaned, marginalized, and deemed irrelevant both to children and to society. 

Blowing against the ideological winds of his adolescent and adult years, Russert wrote two bestselling books which, should his own wishes be granted, will be his most positive and long lasting legacy.  Big Russ & Me – Father and Son: Lessons of Life was published in 2004.  From the dust jacket:  “I have learned so much from Big Russ, and I feel so grateful to him, that I wanted to write a book about the two of us, and also about the other important teachers in my life, who have reinforced Dad’s lessons and taught me a few new ones…I hope this book will encourage readers to think about the things they learned from their father.  Whatever we achieve and whoever we are, we stand on their shoulders.”

The responses of sons and daughters everywhere to this book were overwhelming and these spoken, scribbled, and written commentaries about their own fathers became the foundation of his second book published two years later:  Wisdom of Our Fathers:  Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons.  Of the many quotable quotes here are three from the Introduction: “By writing a book about my father, I was affirming not only his life, but the lives of many other fathers as well”; “Thank you for talking about your dad in such a positive way, because that was my experience too”; and “If real estate is about location, location, location, fatherhood is about time, time, time.”

In a life by all accounts well lived, Tim Russert represents a man who not only talked the talk in two bestselling books but also walked the walk in his relationships with his own father and son.  May the written word outlive the spoken and may his books influence not only fathers and children today, but also society for generations to come. 

 Entombed in Wisdom of Our Fathers is Russert’s own obituary: “When my life is over, I know that the most important thing I’ll be judged on is what kind of father I was.” Gordon E. Finley, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology at Florida International University in Miami.

Tim Russert: Man of facts, faith

For years, journalists have been stereotyped as an irreligious bunch--rational thinkers who value facts more than beliefs. My years working in newsrooms have proved the truth is otherwise. They are filled with journalists committed to both facts and faith. That is how colleagues have described the late NBC newsman and pundit Tim Russert.

After watching hours of coverage about his sudden death this past weekend, I learned that Russert, a practicing Roman Catholic, visited churches around the world and never missed a weekly mass—keeping a promise he made to God when praying for a healthy child.

On Tuesday, Archbishop George H. Niederauer of San Francisco, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Communications Committee, paid tribute to Russert, whose funeral is scheduled for Wednesday.

"Russert was valued by Americans for his tremendous command of the political and electoral process and his commitment to discovering each aspect of the story that contributed to people having a better awareness of the issues of public life and candidates for political office," Niederauer said in a statement released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"But those of us who shared his Catholic faith and his deep love for it appreciated his sharing of the story of his own faith and his loyalty to the life of the Catholic Church in this country and the many charities to which he contributed his time and talent."

Niederauer also praised NBC News for asking Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, to come to their studio to speak with their staff, hours after Russert’s death.

"Tim Russert was not shy about telling people to turn to prayer and promising to pray for them in their time of need," he said. "That the network thought of his staff and followed his example speaks well of them."

The Washington NBC affiliate also interviewed McCarrick, who considered Russert a friend.

"He always had time for people," said McCarrick. "I think that was what made him a great reporter. He always had time for people."

McCarrick also said he thinks Russert regarded his role in television as a way to open possibilities for others. "It’s not that he enjoyed the fame," he said. "He enjoyed the possibility of bringing the best out in people, even those he didn’t agree with."

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, media relations director for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told the Catholic News Service that the Sisters of Mercy took credit for Russert’s success as a journalist.

Nuns of the order made young Russert the editor of the newspaper at St. Bonaventure School in Buffalo, N.Y., when he was in 7th grade.

As a reporter for the Catholic News Service in 1992, Walsh interviewed Russert and described two photographs in his office. One showed Pope John Paul II hugging Russert’s son Luke, then 1. The infant wore a shirt reading "Totus tuus," which translated to "Totally Yours," a motto that described JPII’s devotion to Mary.

The other showed the pontiff sporting a white NBC baseball cap, a gift from the newsman. Russert told Walsh in that interview that when he died he hoped there would be a guy guarding heaven’s gate wearing a white baseball cap and waving him through.

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