https://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/14/tim_russert_tenacious_journalist_dead_at_58/
The Boston Globe, Saturday, June 14, 2008
Tim Russert, tenacious journalist, dead at 58
Tim Russert, a powerhouse of broadcast journalism who made interviewing both an art form and a contact sport on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” died yesterday of a heart attack at age 58 after collapsing at the network’s Washington bureau.
Former Globe columnist Mike Barnicle – a longtime friend of Russert’s whose 15-year-old son, Tim, is named after the newsman – happened to be in the NBC bureau yesterday because he had been asked to guest-host MSBNC’s “Hardball.” He stopped in for a visit with Russert, after which he went to another office to prepare for “Hardball.” Suddenly an intern rushed in with the news that Russert had collapsed and was being taken to the hospital.
“Tim was uniquely without a mean bone in his body,” Barnicle said last night. “He had a joy about him that was nearly unmatched. At the end of the day or the end of the week, there was a part of him that would pinch himself: ‘Can you believe I’m allowed to do this show?’ “
