Tim Russert and father's day

Tim Russert's sudden passing yesterday was a shock to his millions of fans. I was an avid watcher of NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday mornings and will sorely miss him. But I am struck with the irony of his passing on father's day weekend where he had made his own father "Big Russ" famous through his books on the topic. Thousands of readers wrote back to him with their own stories and his books added a new meaning to Father's day. As an interviewer, he was highly prepared,pleasant but tough and explained politics in a manner that everyone got a better handle on issues including the folks being interviewed !

There are some really nice things to note about Tim Russert as a recent talk show on MSNBC suggested. Tim never forgot his humble roots and was constantly amazed at the progress he had made. He was an expert in politics but never let you feel that he was a "Pundit" and you were not. In fact his openness to listen and learn from  the "non-expert" probably added to his own expertise and fan following. Finally, as  Pat Buchanan was saying, at interviews and broadcasts Tim Russert went at issues taking neither a rightist nor leftist view, leaving the interviewed, audience and even rivals with the feeling that he was fair. Tim will be greatly missed.