Tim Russert

MSNBC

Tim Russert has died today of a heart attack at the age of 58. When I got the alert from Live Messenger I actually gasped and said "oh no!" out loud.

When Tom Brokaw retired from the evening news, it was like losing part of my childhood. I grew up in a trailer house (mobile home) where the TV was located in front of the backyard-facing window. As anyone who's lived in one knows, the walls are less than paper thin. I would smell supper cooking and hear his voice while my brother and I played in the backyard. I always said his voice reminded me of sweet tea, which was the beverage at every meal.

Tim Russert brings back the same kind of memories. "Meet the Press" came on after the news, and was usually on while we were eating our late Sunday breakfast. Sometimes we watched and sometimes we didn't, but it was always there. I'm not much of a political follower; wasn't very much at all when I was growing up, but "Meet the Press" was one show I liked to watch. You could count on it to be mature. Mr. Russert wasn't going to resort to drama, or mud-slinging. America trusted him to be tough but fair and to get to the facts of an issue.

It's hard to imagine what his loss is going to mean to the remainder of this important political year. Who's going to ask those tough questions that we Americans want to know the answers to? And be able to do it in a way that is always respectful?

My thoughts are with his family, NBC family and his friends; and also with the American people. We have lost a true patriot.