Timothy J. Russert, Inspiration for ‘Big Russ and Me,’ Is Dead at 85

BUFFALO (AP) — Timothy J. Russert, father of the late “Meet the Press” moderator Tim Russert and the inspiration for the son’s best-selling book about their relationship, died Thursday. He was 85.

The elder Mr. Russert, who was known as Big Russ and grew up in South Buffalo, worked two full-time jobs to support his family, driving a city sanitation truck and a delivery truck for The Buffalo News.

The younger Mr. Russert, who died of a heart attack at 58 in June 2008, paid tribute to his father’s blue-collar values in the 2004 best seller “Big Russ & Me.” It dealt with the lessons the author had learned from his father, a World War II veteran whose favorite expression, according to his son, was “What a country!”

“The older I get, the smarter my father seems to get,” Mr. Russert wrote. “Hardly a day goes by when I don’t remember something that Big Russ taught me.”