Saturday, July 12, 2008

Loss Of Tony Snow

The Death of Tony Snow represents an incalculable loss.
When I think of Tony I think of someone who was fair, gentle, decent. caring, courageous, loving, endearing - someone who truly deserved to live a long, long healthy and happy life.
His death leaves us empty and at a loss to explain why life is so unfair and why the good one are often taken from us while many of the evil ones seem to live forever.
"Laura and I are deeply saddened by the death of our dear friend, Tony Snow," President Bush said in a statement. "The Snow family has lost a beloved husband and father. And America has lost a devoted public servant and a man of character."
Snow joined FOX in 1996 as the original anchor of "FOX News Sunday" and hosted "Weekend Live" and a radio program, "The Tony Snow Show," before departing in 2006. I always enjoyed Tony's radio program because while he held a particular point of view he was never mean or hostile. He treated everyone with respect. And his affable, easy-going manner made it difficult for anyone to dislike him.
A sometime fill-in host for Rush Limbaugh, Snow said he loved the intimacy of his radio audience.
"It's a tremendous loss for us who knew him, but it's also a loss for the country," Roger Ailes, chairman of FOX News, said Saturday morning about Snow, calling him a "renaissance man."
As a TV pundit and commentator for FOX News, Snow was sometimes critical of President Bush before he became Bush's third press secretary in 2006. He was an instant study in the job, mastering the position — and the White House press corps — with apparent ease.
Indeed, Tony Snow was the kind of consummate professional who made every job seem easy. And he set his audience at ease as well.
He faced the scourge of colon Cancer with the same quiet strength and determination that he brought to the rest of his life.
Robert Anthony Snow was born June 1, 1955, in Berea, Ky., the son of a teacher and nurse. He graduated from Davidson College in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy, and he taught briefly in Kenya before embarking on his career as a journalist.
Because of his love for writing, Snow took a job as an editorial writer for the Greensboro Record in North Carolina and went on to run the editorial pages at the Newport News (Virginia) Daily Press, Detroit News and Washington Times. He became a nationally syndicated columnist, and in 1991 he became director of speechwriting for President George H.W. Bush.
Snow is survived by his wife, Jill Ellen Walker, whom he married in 1987; their son, Robbie; and daughters, Kendell and Christie.
In reports of Tony's death you may read that he lost his battle with Cancer." Don't believe it.
Tony never lost a battle. And no one who fights Cancer ever looses. Never.
The only people who are losing the battle so far are those who have failed to find a cure for this insidious disease.
They are the losers.
And they will remain losers until they conquer Cancer.
Tony will always be a winner. Always!

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