Final approach

The trip home from Japan has landed me in San Francisco for a 23-hour layover that I have used to basically just sleep my ass off in Marriott's comfy beds. I'm excited to get home home, though English-speaking "home" is nice too, and I celebrated being back in the States with a first meal of a turkey bacon club and a half bottle of Cabernet. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes my body to re-adjust. I was so tired this morning when I landed at SFO that I took the wrong hotel shuttle twice. There are just too many separate Marriott properties.

At dinner I watched the tribute to Tim Russert and thought about how we respond to and are influenced by the passing of icons. For some reason I began thinking about Bresson's recent death and the total non-affect that it had on my life or work, considering his stature in my specific profession. But Russert's passing has had me reeling and thinking in double-time; just as it created a loud gasp of shock and sadness in our Kyoto hotel room from my sister.

I watched Meet the Press but I wasn't devoted nearly as much as other friends of mine. What I now miss and always respected, though, is how Russert conducted himself and represented within media and the sad, diseased, dark corner of our industry perversely titled broadcast journalism. Through his passion, preparation, and intelligence he elevated the form to some of its former Murrow-era glory and partially suspended the "left" vs. "right" talking points insane 24-hour, time-filling exercise of TV news (which reminds me of the Seinfeld joke about how the only reason that people exercise is to be in good enough shape to exercise more).

The take-away from Russert's life of joy and early death should be for all of us to try to bring just a percentage of his integrity to our work. Let his passing challenge journalists around the world to work harder and better to inform citizens without insulting them with make-believe drama, fear mongering, and laziness.

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