
Sad and shocking news today from the offices of NBC (though broken by Radar Online): Tim Russert died at work today of a heart attack. He was 58 years old. Russert collapsed while working on voiceovers for this week's broadcast of Meet The Press, the flagship Sunday morning chat show that he had hosted since 1991. Russert is survived by his wife, Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth, and his son Luke, who recently graduated from Boston College.
We only had a chance to write about Russert once in the course of this blog, and we are bummed that we may never get to write about him again. He was a singular presence in the TV news arena -- enthusiastic, insightful, and jolly in ways that from others might have felt cloying. No word yet on what NBC will do to replace him, obviously; whatever the case, his loss will be felt for a long time to come.