Maureen Orth Opens Up On Tim Russert's Death, Their Final Embrace: "I Just Had A Feeling" I'd Never See Him Again

People:

Leaving their hotel room in Italy ahead of his wife and son to go back to Washington, D.C., so he could tape that Sunday's Meet the Press, Tim Russert was grabbed by his wife, PEOPLE reports in its latest issue, on sale Friday.

"I said to him, 'I want to give you a hug; maybe I'll never see you again,' " says journalist Maureen Orth, 65, speaking publicly about her husband for the first time since his June 13 passing - the day after he left Italy. "I don't know why I said that to him. I just had a feeling."

Read the whole story: People

Comments

[CookieWrites]

The huge attendance at Tim Russert's memorial demonstrated both the loss of him as a newsman and the mourning of the television media for the honest journalism that has all but disappeared and been replaced by corporate media branding.

[sa]

to paraphrase a previous blog,

"russert's eyes were nothing like the sun."

[ergoth]

i'm so sick of this endless praising of russert as the greatest son and father the world has ever seen.

he had one child to dote on. big deal. in fact, i think it's abnormal that he called his son 2 or 3 times a day while the kid was at college. hanging out and tailgating with his son and his friends? did the kid ever get to be a regular kid without his overprotective parents managing his every move. that's sick. what 21 year old wants his parents hovering over them 24/7?

and why was big russ put into an assisted care home? couldn't multi-millionaire russert have afforded to hire live-in help to care for his old man so he could stay in his own home? or why not move him into the $7 million summer home in nantucket? russert could have moved his old man into his own home with daily visits from health care professionals.

so this crap about him being the greatest son and father is just more baloney.

[madeinoregon]

i dont know the answers to all your questions, there are likely explanations that no one bothered to consult you about. i'd venture a guess dad didnt want to move, but i'll leave that up to the russert family. i doubt he was living in a dump. but, i do know one thing, no wait, two. first, tim russert would never be small enough, insensitive enough, or even find it a concern of his how you run your life, let alone spread some angry insignificant opinion around town, and second, if you are sick of it, stop reading and writing about it. seems simple enough to me. you have to purposefully get yourself to this page with much intention.

seems like not too many people share your opinion which is why it's annoying you...not too many share your opinion. it is puzzling why you engage in something you dislke. your post is immature and pathetic, and it apparently angers you that people are financially successful. you obviously have been unable to do that to your satisfation in your life. you took a few comments and put a spin on a story you know absolutely nothing about. Finally, what an insensitive ass to leave such a note for close family and friends to see.

so let's not be criticizing tim russert for stories you concoct from a few anecdotes ... as my mother used to say, "taking care of yourself is a full time job."

[ergoth]

i didn't say it was a dump. i said he could have afforded to have his dad live with him or stay in his own home with live-in help.

it's so mature of you to have such strong feelings for a complete stranger who you saw on t.v.

[dgscol]

Tim Russert fell over dead, totally unexpectantly. This can be as a result of bad medications. Currently there are few inspections from foreign suppliers. I had a friend that similarly, was a healthy person, about Tim's age, who was an avid cyclist. He had a problem with his leg, and started taking pain medication, and without warning died just like Tim. Do you know of anyone who matches these same symptoms? Clean bill of health, and then dead. Wonder why? Do you think someone should do something?

[drjay79]

When people were watching him on TV, did they really think he looked a healthy man?

[learnsomething]

~~~~~~~"I said to him, 'I want to give you a hug; maybe I'll never see you again,' " says journalist Maureen Orth~~~~~~~

I wonder why she said that to Tim. This is a strange statement to make to him. Very strange.

[madeinoregon]

i think that's the point. she felt it was an odd thing to say too.

[Village]

I had something important to add, I thought, but after reading 'bubble wrap poster', I say Ditto.

[jkh1122]

Seriously. You'd think this guy invented bubble wrap, led the Cubs to the World Series,
and single-handedly saved America from the Legion of Doom - more than once.
No way he rates a whole week's worth of news cycles just for dropping dead.

When President Carter goes to meet his God, I want two solid weeks of news coverage
from every network, and all of it nice - of his military service, his term as Governor of Georgia,
his Presidency, and everything that followed for which he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
Hell, I want the man sainted, buried next to JFK at Arlington, and his face put on the quarter.

It's only fair. If a second-rate news 'personality' rates nearly a solid week of eulogizing,
mourning, and so on and so forth, any former President of the United States, even a one-term
wonder (since fully vindicated) like Jimmy Carter, ought to rate at least double that.

Jimmy Carter builds houses for homeless people, while Russert slurred the Left.
No way Carter will get positive coverage - they'll only focus on "his weakness.".

[MoeSart]

Tim Russert should be on Mount Rushmore and also he should have a statue beside Lincoln on the Washington Mall. Also his corpse should be preserved like Lenin inside of a giant pyramid coated in platinum and we should all have the day of his death as a national holiday.

Also, his death redeemed us all of sin.

[HillaryismyHomegirl]

Interesting article about Russert's health issues and their ahem - treatment - warning - it's scary. http://naturalnews.com/z023472.html

[pesfb]

I was wondering how long it would take for the weirdness to set in, but I thought it'd be a few more days. What's next, Luke will announce he felt a pain in his heart at the moment his father keeled over?

[vocalist]

Now Russet is no more, and with so much coverage on the media one thing comes to my mind which I will never know.
Tim Russert had a given gift, his voice had a beautiful tone, was he ever a musician ?
Such resonence, with so much sweetness. I wonder if he ever dabbed into that ? He had all the qualities to be one, if he wanted to do so.
He was great at what he loved to do, and with that easy voice it was an unusual gift a wholesome package.
One he was born with the other he mastered at !
I guess I will ever know.

[ldelp84227]

It sounds as though he was a great husband, father, and son and that is really what matters when all said and done. I didn't pay much attention to his journalism, but it sounds as though he made a large impact on many lives. Linda

[monkette]

OK -- I offer condolences to all who personally knew this man and are affected by his death.

I'm also sick to death of how much press its getting. Can we please get back to covering news about issues of the day? (ok, could we maybe make a more reasonable attempt at covering news about issues of the day, since it's something the press never really cares to do?)

[madeinoregon]

then go find something else to do. what is with all you people? apparently some of us arent sick of it. he also worked for the press, get it? the media community is likely quite pained and this is a way for each of them to get thru a thing. i dont spend my time doing things i dont like. get over it. get a life. we're all not like you, kapiche? unfortunately, we are all stuck on earth living with a whole bunch of people who don't do things like we do. news flash!

[nonofyabusiness]

I loved KO's statement. "If that rainbow had something to do with Tims Soul, I'd recognise TIm anywhere"( somethin to that affect)

[FACINGREALIT]

I liked Tim Russett but I will never forget when he moderated the debate w/Hillary and Obama when he asked Hillary if there were any additional scandals awaiting a Clinton administration knowing full well about the Peter Paul scandal. Sometimes Russett had a tendancy of 'letting' things slide that were important. He also gave the Bush Administration a pass and was central to the Scooter Libby scandal regarding Valerie Plume. Yes, he was a good moderator but he was not a journalist in the true sense of the word!

GOD SPEED Tim - You were a good husband and father and thats more then a lot of men can say!

[vocalist]

I feel that too. Russert never got a chance to correct himself particularly after the recent debate, with time he would have. Shows he was only a human.
The grand prize winner would be Tim also, as the greatest Father, Son and family man. That is the biggest achievement of all.
So long Tim.

[Morgaz]

Listen, there are reasons some people connect with us through the news media, through the television, etc. You people who take issue with others mourning over the death of public figures have issues of your own you need to focus on.

My own father was an east coast born. Raised Irish Catholic and taught by Jesuits. A sports fanatic. He worshipped JFK. A small town boy who became a small town newspaper editor after returning from Korea. My father was larger than life in his own little world. I relate to Tim because of this and because I so respect his integrity and old-school journalism ways, again, like my father.

I wish he were still alive when Big Russ and Me came out, because as tough as he was, I know it would have made him cry. He loved and respected his father - a man I never met but someone I was told may not have deserved it quite so much. Someone who drank too much, didn't show too much affection, kept fathering children for his wife to care for and just went about his days. But my dad's memories of his father were golden.

Tim Russert's shocking death and the public grieving that has followed have brought my father's memory rushing back, so in some ways I'm grieving for both of them.

It doesn't seem fair that Tim can't watch Luke make great things of his life, like Big Russ was able to. So we grieve.

[pesfb]

Apparently you have no idea of just What "old-school journalism ways" are, because Mr. Russert didn't have them. Like most of his contemporaries, Russert was at best a glad handing mediocre access driven mouthpiece and a shill for his sources, and he was good at it no doubt, but that is not "old-school" watchdog reporting.

[adl]

Apparently there are many who would like to deprive others of making connections that they deem inappropriate. Instead, we should all be disconnected, cynical and hateful. No one should have to explain why they feel badly about another human beings death or for feeling a connection to another person whether they knew him/her or not. If the posts of the most cynical and critical on this board are to be believed, I truly feel sorry for them if they cannot break out of their hard outer shell to allow themselves and others to feel. As for you, I'm sorry that you no longer have your father with you.