The Passing of Buffalo’s Own Tim Russert
by Matt at Jun 13th, 2008
This afternoon, while in the middle of a business meeting, I learned that Tim Russert had died suddenly of a heart attack.
Russert, 58, collapsed while recording voiceovers for his Sunday morning interview program, NBC reported. He was initially reported to have suffered a heart attack while working in his office on Washington’s Nebraska Avenue, but the network said later only that he was “stricken at the bureau” and subsequently died. Further details were not immediately available.
Russert served as NBC’s Washington bureau chief and the host of “Meet the Press,” the top-rated Sunday talk show, which had an enormous influence on politics and was marked by his aggressive style of interrogation. As a frequent commentator on the “Today” show, “NBC Nightly News” and other shows, Russert wielded such clout that when he declared that Sen. Barack Obama had wrapped up the Democratic nomination last month, his pronouncement was treated as a news event in itself.
Russert’s television career was marked by a voracious appetite for politics and a shrewd understanding of how politicians interact with the media. He also wrote a book about his father, titled “Big Russ and Me.” Last week, he moved Big Russ to a nursing facility.
Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw gave MSNBC viewers the news of Russert’s death at 3:40 p.m.
“He worked to the point of exhaustion so many weeks,” Brokaw said, adding: “This news division will not be the same without his strong, clear voice.”
I met Tim Russert back 2004 when I was one of the official bloggers at the Republican National Convention. I had been away from Blogger’s Corner and came back to my laptop and he was there, looking at bumper stickers I had brought to the convention for my blog, Blogs For Bush (now Blogs For Victory) I actually didn’t recognize him at first because he looked very different to me, but we spoke for a bit, and I gave him a bumper sticker.
MSNBC.com has a timeline of Russert’s life and career.
