NBC News Tim Russert Dead at 58

NBC News Washington Bureau and Meet the Press host Tim Russert died this afternoon, just as he was doing voiceovers for this Sunday's edition. He was rushed to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, and efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.

Russert joined NBC in 1984, and became the Washington Bureau chief in 1988, and became the host of Meet the Press in 1991. At 17 years at the helm, he was the longest serving host.

As I watch the tributes, his colleagues and even President Bush say that Russert carried that integrity and dedication to his job as journalist. I have to say that they're right. When I watched Meet the Press, Tim grilled politicians with a pit bull's grip, but he always treated those he interviewed with respect. When he was involved in the Scooter Libby debacle- over the revelation of now former CIA Valerie Plame- last year, he handled the court proceedings with grace, and since he was an attorney, he outsmarted his questioners. Libby got a suspended sentence- commuted by President Bush. Russert came out an even better person.

As much as he loved doing Meet the Press, he also loved his hometown Buffalo, New York. After he finished each episode, he would always go back home to Buffalo to see his beloved Buffalo Bills and New York Yankees. Moreover, he loved his family, close to his father, Timothy John Russert, Sr.- as evidenced in the book Big Russ and Me (Miramax Books, 2005).

Tonight, flags are at half staff in Buffalo.

My heart goes out to the Russert family and the staff of NBC News.

Timothy John Russert, Jr. dead at 58.

You will be sorely missed, Tim.

(C)MMVIII, By Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.