false 625647 1401352081 9781401352080 691 210 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176430506m/625647.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/625647.Big_Russ_and_Me_Father_and_Son_Lessons_of_Life 209856 Tim Russert 1087 333 4 1 false Sat Jul 05 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 03 16:29:05 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 05 19:04:39 -0700 2008
Until almost a month ago I hadn’t realized I had the prejudice. Or at least I wouldn’t have been able to articulate it if asked. I probably would have simply said “I prefer fiction to nonfiction.”
But sadly, it has been true. I have avoided books written by movie stars, politicians, music geniuses and television stars.

I, along with a surprisingly large number of people, found myself unexpectedly moved by the untimely death of Tim Russert. All I knew of Tim was what I saw on television Sunday mornings on “Meet the Press” and during the campaign coverage on MSNBC. (As a self proclaimed political news junkie, this meant I’d been seeing a great deal of him during this campaign season.) To a person it seemed, everyone who talked of Tim talked of the wonderful books he had written and spoke with great fondness of Big Russ and were so grateful Tim had written these books.
How on earth did I manage to miss his books when they were originally published I wondered. The more I thought about it them more I realized I had been overlooking an entire genre simply because the authors presented their “authorship” as a second job rather than their primary calling.

This narrow-minded (though completely unintentional) thinking has caused me to miss a number of good and even great books I suspect. And as I mourn the loss of Tim, I also regret that I was not able to read his books without a touch of sorrow. As I read them now I am always mindful that his spirit left the earth far too early.

Others (more articulate and erudite than I) have penned poignant reviews of “Big Russ & Me.” I do not possess the vocabulary to adequately explain what “Big Russ & Me” means to me. In short I found it to be a moving tribute to a man who worked hard to achieve more than he dreamed possible and yet never lost touch with his roots and his family. Remarkably it was written by the man himself. A rare treat. Well worth reading. And well worth overcoming old (and pointless) prejudices towards those who achieve in a visual media.
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