How come Tim Russert never wrote a book about his mother?

[Quixote1818]

I don't have anything against Tim Russert and found his death very sad but I was just wondering how is mother felt about never being acknowledged by any of Tim's books.

Did he not get along with his mother?

[Occam Bandage]

1. And why didn't he write a book about me? I watched his show. He must hate me.

[Cleita]

2. Maybe he didn't live long enough to. n/t

[Quixote1818]

3. I looked around and found this

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-ehrenstein/tim-russert-hates-his-mot_b_20983.html

[nsd]

12. Yikes. Something complicated is going on there. /nt

[Saturday]

4. I had to listen really closely to

even hear he had a wife. It was all about his son and father with his wife rarely being mentioned. I finally heard he had one who works for Vanity Fair.

[Medusa]

11. Maureen Orth

She's a writer for Vanity Fair. And a very good writer at that. She's a well-accomplished woman in her own right.

[LawyersGunsandMoney]

27. At least she wasn't one of those trophy wives

half his age that most guys famous like that wound up with. Maybe he didn't have time to trade her in for a newer model?

[earthlover]

5. Perhaps, if he lived longer than 58 short years, he would have written about

his mother, his wife, and a lot of other people.

How many of us have written a book about our mother? HAVE YOU?

I dare say that it is quite possible to love one's mother and not have written a book about her yet.

[Quixote1818]

I actually acknowledged both my parents in my book

From My Book:

I grew up in the southern New Mexico city of Las Cruces and usually spent each summer traveling, exploring and camping with my family. Both my parents were professors, and every summer we would load up the car or camper and head out on one of our great adventures. Each morning I would wake up to the smell and sound of a campfire, and bacon and eggs cooking, and go to sleep in the evening with a billion stars flickering through twisted tree branches above. Often in the morning the air would be cool and crisp with the sound of a rushing stream nearby or a local squirrel chattering overhead. The grass was usually covered with dew as was a nearby alpine meadow carpeted with a thousand wildflowers. One day we would be in northern New Mexico high in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains nestled in the cool tall pines, and the next day I would wake up camped in the Painted Desert of Arizona with not a tree in sight.

My parents loved to explore and get us on hair-raising roads high above the timberline with a thousand foot drop off on one side and only enough room for one car on the road. We experienced the horror of coming across another vehicle, and Mom looking out the window, saying "You still have six inches on this side." Those were the days that still enchant my thoughts. Those were the days when I knew complete contentment and happiness. Not a single worry except the daunting thought that school was only a month or two away. We would trek all over the western United States visiting places like the Ruby Mountains in Nevada and Mount St. Helens in Washington, Glacier National Park in Montana and the rugged coast of Oregon. I remember the deep red rocks at Capital Reef National Park in Utah and the many lakes of the Turtle Mountains in North Dakota.

It was the Richardson code to never camp in a campground. We always had to find the perfect isolated spot next to a running stream 100 miles from the nearest town. Those trips had an incredible impact on me. They gave me a wonderful love of nature and wilderness. Every stream, every sunset, every quivering leaf above the trail had something to teach my soul. It's hard for me to take credit for my photography because I think it was the wonderful childhood that my parents provided me that taught me to see the beauty in nature and the world around me. My photographs are really just an expression of the love and wonderful childhood my parents gave me; an expression of the world they taught me to see.

"Thanks, Mom and Dad! With Love and Gratitude, Your son, Steve"

My Parents

Shirley Dial Richardson passed away on April 9th, 1997. Shirley's career started as a high school music teacher, later on a college professor, painter, psychologist and businesswoman. She was the author of "A Guide to Career and Life Planning" in 1983. I will always remember her as my closest friend and confidante.

Al Richardson currently lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico where he recently returned to be near his daughter and grandchildren. Al was a chemistry professor at New Mexico State University for 36 years and had many accomplishments during his career. He also did research and/or consulting at Iowa State University, White Sands Missile Range and University of Colorado, and at Los Alamos, Lawrence-Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories. In his research, he had several important, cutting edge discoveries. After Mom died, Dad took over as my closest friend and confidante.

[earthlover]

8. That's wonderful!

But did you write a BOOK about your mother?

Russert didn't either. Something you both have in common. As well as your love for your mother and father.

[YDogg]

13. that's a beautiful statement

one day I hope to visit the Chile Pepper Institute at NMSU. :-)

[hokies4ever]

15. But what about your great grandmother? Did you acknowledge her?

:eyes:

[Quixote1818]

16. No, I hated her. nt

[hokies4ever]

18. She probably hated you too

:rofl:

Seriously though, it's not unusual for a child to have a stronger bond with one parent than the other. I don't think it's imperative to delve deep into parts of someone's private life that they don't bring up or don't feel like discussing.

[Quixote1818]

21. It just struck me as odd

Though for some reason I never questioned Dan Fogelberg writing a song about his Dad and not his mom (Leader of the Band). As one poster said, Russert wrote about his Dad because his Dad didn't express feelings well which probably just made for a more interesting book than one about him and his Mom.

Though I did come across this over at Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-ehrenstein/tim-russert-hates-his-mot_b_20983.html

[sellitman]

6. He didn't do the work on his post mortum.

I'm sure he would of mentioned his Mom if he had the chance.

:sarcasm:

[stray cat]

7. My understanding is his dad did not express feelings well - like many dads

However, as Tim got older he realized his dad's love was expressed by how hard he worked to provide for his family and other ways. While his mom expressed her emotions and her support more freely so less had been left unsaid.

[Clear Blue Sky]

9. Like the guys who have a "mother" tatoo but not a "father" one?

[Hangingon]

10. I think he just ran out of time. To bad.

[polichick]

14. Must be boys and dads - Barack wrote about his dad too.

[Drunken Irishman]

17. If I ever wrote a book, it'd be Mom and Me.

I'm far more closer to my mother than my father.

[polichick]

20. Bet she'd like that! :)

[BlooInBloo]

19. Oh gawd. Shoot me now.

[Occam Bandage]

22. It's a lot easier to assassinate someone's character

once they stop moving.

[BlooInBloo]

25. Heh indeedy. I'm the farthest thing from a Russert-fan, but this thread is just stupid.

[Bucky]

23. If I was Tim Russert's cousin, I'd be glad he was dead. Russert never wrote a book about his cousin!

[woolldog]

24. Reminds me of those who criticize Obama for

writing about his father in his first book but not about his mom. Someone has seriously argued to me that he couldn't have liked his mother much to do that.

[JI7]

26. who cares, Obama wrote a book about his father

you think that means anything ?

didn't Jimmy Carter just recently write or is writing a book about his mother. maybe as the only boy in the family Russert was closer to his father while his 3 sisters were close to the mom.

[Bluerthanblue]

28. PLEASE READ-

- the link to huffington above is not very thorough-

RUSSERT: It taught me a lesson. You're right, Alan. And it's the spontaneous moments. It's not the big, expensive, planned vacations. It's sitting at the edge of a bed reading a story, or walking through a ballpark, and suddenly your son or daughter asks you about a certain star or about a tree or, "Dad, what were you like when you were little?" Those are the things that connect. Or they watch you working hard, that discipline, preparation, accountability, those values, those lessons.

COLMES: Like you say, work hard, laugh often.

RUSSERT: Work hard, laugh often, and keep your honor. That's the secret to life.

COLMES: That's what you learn from your dad. Did you become a different father or a better father as a result of the process of having done these books? Did it change your fathering?

RUSSERT: These books changed my life. It's a journey I never expected or anticipated. My dad is now much more demonstrative and outgoing and affectionate to me. He actually uttered the words, "I love you." And I said, "What did you say?" "You heard me." I got it once. That was it. But my own son, I have such a different relationship with him. And you should see my son with his grandpa, my dad.

COLMES: Yes, different relationship than the father-son relationship.

RUSSERT: Well, we're bonded by blood, and we know it now. And it's deep. It's so deep, and we're not afraid to tell each other.

COLMES: Do you have a mom who says, "What about me? Where's my book?"

RUSSERT: Well, I lost my mom two years ago, and I write about her in "Wisdom of our Fathers" and in a very extensive -- she loved the book, because there's a phrase in there that Father Donovan, our parish priest, used to say, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." My mom would have us at the table at 4:45 every day. While she made supper, we did our homework. She signed our homework every night. But for her, I would have never gone -- first person to go to college, law school. Mom did it.

COLMES: There's something about an Aqua Velva man.

RUSSERT: Is that true.

COLMES: You've got about 30 seconds. I don't know if you can do it.

RUSSERT: Andrea Mufusko (ph) up in Massachusetts, her father died. She went to clip the hedges. She got the clippers out, his gloves fell down, his goggles fell down. There's a little note saying, "Sweet brown eyes, please always protect yourself," and she could smell his Aqua Velva from those gloves, 10 years later. Even in death, Dad was protecting daddy's little girl.

HANNITY: It's called "Wisdom of our Fathers," book stores. Great Father's Day gift.

RUSSERT: Happy Father's Day.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/06/tim_russert_on_presidential_ra.html

(edited to add link- it's an interesting article in it's entirety)

[bunnies]

29. Give the man a break. He's DEAD for chrissakes.

WTF is going on around here?! :nuke: