Tim Russert, moderator of Meet the Press, is dead

I usually have a cynical regard for the deluge of eulogies that follow the death of famous people. But I know enough about the life and work of Tim Russert to believe every word uttered in his memory is true.

No doubt you’ve heard what a consummate interviewer he was, having pioneered the interrogation method – of confronting guests with their own contradictory words – that made so many politicians squirm.

In fact, such was my delight in watching Russert perform that Meet the Press became as routine a feature of my Sunday Mornings as going to church is for religious folks. He moderated this program for the past 17 years.

Yet, outside of politics, Russert was probably best known as the author of the bestselling book about his relationship with his father entitled Big Russ and Me. Therefore, given how much he gushed about this relationship, it seems a cruel irony that he died this Father’s Day weekend at age 58 – survived by his ailing father.

Then, of course, there’s the irony that this grand inquisitor of American politics (and a self-described political junkie) died in a year when the entire world is tuned in to the most interesting and historic presidential election in modern times….

Russert was married to Maureen Orth – a writer for Vanity Fair magazine. And they had one child, Luke, whose graduation from Boston College they celebrated with a trip to Italy just this week. My condolences go out to them and all surviving members of the Russert family.

He was reportedly stricken by a fatal heart attack yesterday at the NBC studios in Washington, DC, where he was preparing for another edition of his show: “because if it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press.”

Farewell Tim

Tim Russert