Today I am very sad at the loss of one of my heroes, Tony Snow. He was truly a renaissance man, as well as a man of integrity a man who could disagree without being disagreeable. He was a man who had his priorities straight: God first, family second, and other people third. He was a voracious reader and one special musician more specifically, a jazz rocker who played seven different instruments extremely well. He had a band called "Beats Working" and played a mean flute and sax.
In my opinion, he elevated the office of Press Secretary to new levels with his knowledge, his ability to really listen before he responded, and often responded with his incredible wit. He said he was the luckiest man on earth to be able to come from humble beginnings and end up working at The White House.
Tony always knew he would probably die with colon cancer. He knew he had inherited the gene from his mother who died with the same disease when Tony was only 17 years of age. But his philosophy was that we were all going to die, so why sit around and feel sorry for yourself and think about dying? One should live each day with gratitude for that day. Never once did he complain about his plight in life, nor did he ever have a mean thing to say about anyone, no matter what they did to him. He was a rarity: a true gentleman. He leaves behind a wife, Jill Ellen Walker and three young children.
Tony Snow was born Robert Anthony Snow on June 1, 1955 in Berea, KY to parents who were school teachers. He grew up in Cincinnati. After graduating from Davidson College in 1977, he did graduate work in political philosophy and economics at the University of Chicago.
He started his career as newspaper editorial writer for the Greensboro NC Record in 1979, then the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot. Later he was named page editor of the Washington Times in 1987; wrote columns for Detroit News, USA Today and syndication.
In 1995 Tony was hired by ABC's "Good Morning America" as a conservative voice in debates with Chris Matthews and served as replacement commentator for political show like "Crossfire" and "Equal Time." Then in 1996 he was hired to host "FOX News Sunday," the first news show on the FOX network, and began appearing on FOX News Channel when it was launched later that year; hosted FOX News' "Weekend Live with Tony Snow," in 2003, as well as "The Tony Snow Show" on FOX News Radio.
White House Career: Tony left newspapers in 1991 to join the staff of first President Bush as deputy assistant to the president for communications and director of speechwriting; later he was promoted to deputy assistant to the president for media affairs; appointed by second President Bush in April 2006 as White House press secretary after Scott McClellan resigned; served until September 2007, when colon cancer treatment and family financial pressures forced him to step down.
Sources: Biography Resource Center; Associated Press 2008
April Lorier
