I was so hoping when I first heard about Tim Russert that it was some sort of cruel Internet fake. I knew him only slightly but always found him to be genuine and friendly (not always the case, needless to say, among the “great”). He was tremendously intelligent and lively. It is so hard to believe that at 58, his heart simply stopped. It was a big heart.
Also, from our point of view, this is a tremendous loss. Russert strove to be eminently fair and succeeded nearly all of the time. His liberal bona fides (worked for Moynihan, etc) were unassailable but he was not deaf to conservative arguments. Whom will NBC pick to replace him? Is there any chance that they will turn to someone equally impartial? Not holding my breath. RIP.