A Father's Day message from a father: T.J. Connolly
Tim Russert with former President Bill Clinton (photo)
T.J. Connolly (photo)
As Father's Day 2008 draws to a close...how blessed we are with the passing of Tim Russert of NBC News, and of greater fame, host for 17 years of the longest running television show in history, Meet the Press.
While his passing was tragic, devastating, hard to accept for political junkies, it was equally devastating and a terrible loss to the average American who wanted the truth about their politics, about their political leaders once a week, for just an hour.
Tim Russert delivered that truth,without bias, without personal views. He was the ultimate broadcaster; telling, seeing and abstracting the truth, but never coloring it...and never enflaming it. Tim Russert was one of a kind.
Yet, he was "everyone." Although he enjoyed the longest contract ever given a TV broadcaster, a 12-year contract worth tens of millions, he didn't dress the part, he didn't act the part, and he didn't demand the part. I say his passing was a "blessing", because on the eve of Father's Day, for the past 48 hours, America has been educated on what a true, good, quality,real father is.
What he is made of. What his moral compass is. What his priorities are. Tim Russert, more than anyone else, defined what a "father"was...and should be. Tim Russert symbolized what all fathers should aim tobe.I had the chance to meet and visit with Tim Russert when he spoke at Trinity University in the late 1990's. His first question to me, when I met him,"You have any kids?". He didn't want to talk politics, he didn't want to"talk shop"...he did want to talk about kids.
At the time, my youngest had just been born. He shared with me how his son Luke arrived at 9+ lbs., and has been a "heavy' blessing to him and his wife Maureen ever sense. After visiting with Russert, you felt you had not just visited with a man who interviewed Presidents, Kings and Popes on a weekly basis, but rather, you just spent time with a next door neighbor.
TV...and especially television news...is not blessed with many Tim Russert's. Prima donnas, yes, Tim Russert's...NO. But today, on Father's Day, we are reminded how to be a good father. How to be the right kind of father. What being a good, real, solid father means. To sum it up in two words: Tim Russert.
Happy Father's Day.
T. J. Connolly
President & CEO
Connolly & Associates
T.J. Connolly (photo)
As Father's Day 2008 draws to a close...how blessed we are with the passing of Tim Russert of NBC News, and of greater fame, host for 17 years of the longest running television show in history, Meet the Press.
While his passing was tragic, devastating, hard to accept for political junkies, it was equally devastating and a terrible loss to the average American who wanted the truth about their politics, about their political leaders once a week, for just an hour.
Tim Russert delivered that truth,without bias, without personal views. He was the ultimate broadcaster; telling, seeing and abstracting the truth, but never coloring it...and never enflaming it. Tim Russert was one of a kind.
Yet, he was "everyone." Although he enjoyed the longest contract ever given a TV broadcaster, a 12-year contract worth tens of millions, he didn't dress the part, he didn't act the part, and he didn't demand the part. I say his passing was a "blessing", because on the eve of Father's Day, for the past 48 hours, America has been educated on what a true, good, quality,real father is.
What he is made of. What his moral compass is. What his priorities are. Tim Russert, more than anyone else, defined what a "father"was...and should be. Tim Russert symbolized what all fathers should aim tobe.I had the chance to meet and visit with Tim Russert when he spoke at Trinity University in the late 1990's. His first question to me, when I met him,"You have any kids?". He didn't want to talk politics, he didn't want to"talk shop"...he did want to talk about kids.
At the time, my youngest had just been born. He shared with me how his son Luke arrived at 9+ lbs., and has been a "heavy' blessing to him and his wife Maureen ever sense. After visiting with Russert, you felt you had not just visited with a man who interviewed Presidents, Kings and Popes on a weekly basis, but rather, you just spent time with a next door neighbor.
TV...and especially television news...is not blessed with many Tim Russert's. Prima donnas, yes, Tim Russert's...NO. But today, on Father's Day, we are reminded how to be a good father. How to be the right kind of father. What being a good, real, solid father means. To sum it up in two words: Tim Russert.
Happy Father's Day.
T. J. Connolly
President & CEO
Connolly & Associates
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