Mood:  sad

Nantucket, the nation, and the world suffered a very unexpected loss yesterday when island resident and world class political analyst and newsman Tim Russert passed away of an apparent heart attack at the age of 58 while recording voice overs for this Sunday's Meet the Press. All over Nantucket, those who had met him were saddened by the news. Both Len and I had the good fortune to meet Tim and Maureen on a 2-3 occasions which ranged from Boys and Girls Club soirees to encounters at the airport and at our local Planning Board meeting. Maureen and Tim and I were there to speak about a nearby subdivision perilously close to wetlands. Not only is this a tremendous lose of a giving and caring person on island, but we have also lost one of the few political journalists who could conduct a fair and incisive interview and who always did their homework and avoided pandering to our most base instincts. In addition, Tim's death was a big wake up call to Len and I, both larger, slower and in worse shape than we were 2-3 years ago. I even took the evening off last night and read a book and we took a long walk together.

 on a much more happy tone, the Nantucket Independent, a local newspaper, featured me in a long article (front page!) this week. Go to 

http://www.nantucketindependent.com/news/2008/0611/front_page/002.html

for the article and for breaking local news. 

 I am also enjoying writing for Yesterday's Island and I'll put more links to recent articles there tomorrow.