Again, another rare weekend entry...maybe not so rare. I woke up to the news that Tony Snow succumbed to cancer at just 53.
Many folks remember Tony Snow as the White House Press Secretary. And many others may remember him as the first host of the Fox Network's "Fox News Sunday" (which is replayed on Fox News Channel on Sunday afternoons).
I know that many on the left did not like him because of the jobs that he held, and that many of those hypocrites will come out of the woodwork and say nice things now that he has passed. Those are the people that I will be really upset with the next several days.
As for me, here is what I remember about Tony Snow. He was my travel companion during some of the darkest days of my life. Let me explain.
In December 1993, I quit my job after getting sick of being screwed over by my employer (the refused to pay what was $4500 in commissions because they deemed them a "windfall"...and by December 1993, that number had grown to $7200). I left them shortly after the other full-time sales person left the company. I decided to move back home with my parents and go back to school.
I left California on a Sunday, stopped in Las Vegas for dinner and a little blackjack (I won). That night I stayed in Green River, Utah.
Monday morning I got back on the road at 9am, drove for a bit listening to my CD's, then after an hour I was over that and because all of my crap was loaded in the back of my 1991 Ford Probe and I couldn't get to the CD changer. So, I turned on AM radio. Good old stand-by, AM radio. Why I love it now is obvious, but back in 1993, you could find some programs on talk radio and just change to the next station to get the same program on the next station during a commercial break.
Anyhow, let me get back on track. I was looking for Rush Limbaugh. Back in 1993, he was very, very entertaining and not as egocentric as he seems to be today. But, he was not on that week. Some newspaper columnist named Tony Snow was. I had no idea who this guy was, but I gave him a chance.
Glad I did. So for Monday driving through Utah and Colorado, I had Tony to keep me busy. Then again on Tuesday through Nebraska and Iowa, I had Tony to keep my mind active. I really came to appreciate this man as more than some writer, most of whom make a LOUSY transition to radio.
A few years later, this new channel launched to compete with CNN. And who was on that channel? Tony Snow. And I became a fan of his TV shows.
Fast forward to 2005-2006, and I am working as a fill-in host for "The Phil Show" on WNOX-FM in Knoxville, Tennessee. I have one caller comment that I sounded like Tony Snow. Then another and another. I never thought so, nor do I still, but I certainly found that interesting. And better than being told that I sounded like a number of other voices, Gilbert Gottfried comes to mind. I still don't hear it, but then again, my voice sounds different to me than it does to everyone else.
I really appreciated the work that Tony Snow did in his various roles. He is one of the few who gave up a career in television for the more pure medium of radio. Chris Wallace took over "Fox News Sunday" because he wanted to move to the new radio syndication division of Fox News. I have a lot of respect for that move.
Later, he gave up a that well-paying job to work in the White House, where he earned $155k....and no endorsement opportunities go with that gig.
I never had a chance to meet him, but like a lot of his viewers and listeners, I always felt like I knew him. I know that I will miss him.
God bless you Tony Snow.
