I’m not much of a Sunday morning news watcher, preferring instead to catch up on my reading or take in some NFL pregame shows during the football season. So, as surprising as it may sound, I never saw a single episode of Meet the Press hosted by Tim Russert, and barely even knew who the man was prior to his sudden passing on June 13 of this year.

The amount of press coverage devoted to Russert’s death and the number of tributes from the most powerful people in Washington made me more interested in his life, and when I saw Matt Lauer’s interview with son Luke Russert, that sealed the deal for me. Russert seemed like a fascinating character, so I decided to read Big Russ & Me, his 2004 homage to lessons learned from his father. I was not disappointed.

Summary: Big Russ & Me by Tim Russert is part autobiography, part tribute to his father, also named Tim Russert. The author opens by describing his father’s World War II experiences, which he believes were fundamental in shaping the elder Russert’s morals, values, and work ethic. The elder Russert became a man who worked two jobs all his life in order to support his family and give them what they needed — something that his son never forgot.

The author then spends several chapters talking about what it was like growing up in South Buffalo in the 1960s, attending Catholic school, and eventually putting himself through college and law school. Russert describes a simpler time when kids played outside all day long, when families ate dinner together, when going to someplace like McDonald’s was a treat, and when teachers were respected. Russert’s tales of his school days were particularly interesting, as he showed that hard work and sheer determination account for about 95% of a person’s ultimate success in life.

Russert then turns his attention to his work career, talking about how he began working for local politicians in Buffalo before catching on with Daniel Patrick Moynihan as a staffer on Moynihan’s first Senate election campaign. That ended up being the job that changed Russert’s life forever, as he developed the right contacts and made a name for himself in Washington, D.C.

Through it all, Big Russ was there to offer sound advice and fatherly encouragement, for which Tim was very grateful — a sentiment the author expressed consistently throughout the book.

My Reaction: In looking back at Big Russ & Me, I found the most interesting parts of the book to be about Tim’s school and work careers, which is a good thing since those topics take up a bulk of the pages. In fact, despite the title of the book, Big Russ remained a shadowy figure for the most part. Sure, there were the introductory chapters about his Army career, but beyond that I learned very little about the man. He worked in the Sanitation Department and drove a delivery truck. He liked baseball and football. He helped Tim buy his first new car. That’s about all I figured out from the pages.

I learned a great deal about Tim Russert, however, which is really why I read this book to begin with. I think Russert’s story is an amazing one, especially since it’s not a cookie cutter tale of someone making it big in D.C. I loved the fact that Russert put himself through college and law school, and that he didn’t go to Ivy League or otherwise notable schools. I get tired of seeing every powerful person in Washington sporting the exact same résumé, so reading of Russert’s ascent was quite refreshing.

Overall, I thought Big Russ & Me was a fairly good read. It’s more about Tim Jr. than his father or about their relationship, but it could hardly have been very interesting otherwise. It’s a nice, easy book to get through, not overly long and with just a couple of boring parts. I recommend it!