"The Real Pro" - Paul Newman, 1998

I was shocked and saddened by the sudden death of NBC's Tim Russert, who had a heart attack while at work in Washington yesterday. He was only 58.

Russert was one of my all-time favorite journalists and television presenters. His Sunday morning "Meet the Press" programs were a highlight of my weekends while living in the States. And after John bought me a video iPod last Christmas, I discovered that podcasts of his programs were downloadable from MSNBC each week. I can't claim to have watched each and every one since I scheduled them for weekly downloads, but I watched a lot of them. Russert's programs, with their (in my opinion) exceptionally well-balanced coverage, kept me from feeling so far away from my home country during an especially fascinating presidential primary season.

Here are a couple of links -- CNN's coverage (which includes some video links), and a wonderful article from the "Washington Post" by columnist Tom Shales.

My deepest sympathy to the Russert family and to his friends and colleagues. He'll certainly be missed by loads of us. He was a real pro.


Janet