Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
It's quinnican't ter picks one oh six. Luke Russer and everybody, Hey,
(00:03):
Luke, Hey, guys, howare you doing good? Are you?
Are you still in Buffalo? No, I got back to d C.
But I had a wonderful weekend inBuffalo and we had a three hour line
to Blackthorne Pub and South Buffalo andit was it was so wonderful to reach
next to so many friends and theuh, the Buffalo hospitality, it can't
be beat. There's a good HOSPITALIin all. But you know as well,
(00:24):
I have a customer who lives thereto visit him every now and then.
I didn't look at him stroke.I appreciate that. Luke Russer,
the new book look for me theregrieving my father, finding myself. We
have seen the coverage and the reviewsof the book. Your friends at MSNBC
and NBC gave you a lot oflove promoting this book. And I think
it's number one on Amazon right.It was number one on Amazon and Barnes
(00:45):
and Noble last week, which wascompletely unexpected. It was so unexpected they
sold out. So it's a goodprom to have. But uh, I
got a call late last week andfrom from my book age, and he
goes, hey, we're running outa book, because how is it that
possible. It's like, well,we're running out of books because you gotta
tell folks it's available on audible andKindle. But they're restocking it and there
(01:07):
should be up to speed by theend of the week. It's a good
problem to have, but it's oneof those where it made me very anxious
for a good forty eight hours.Some musen a lot. I mean,
it's it's a it's a great book, but it's also a tribute to how
much we all miss your dad.Obviously not as much as you, but
that I think we lost the lasttime politically we were on sane footing your
(01:32):
father. Yeah, I had ashow. I think you're right. It's
such a good point. It's sucha good point in this coming June June
thirteenth, it's gonna be fifteen yearssince his passing. And one of the
things that I really learned through writingthis book and connecting with people of these
last few weeks is when he died, it really feels like it was the
end of an era, and itwas the era of the broadcast news,
(01:55):
the newspaper. You know, themorning show, the evening show. Social
media is not in our face everytwo seconds. People had a chance to
breathe and to process the news thatwas coming in. And I think folks
look back at that time and theysee his videos or they see his pictures
and they go, oh wow,that was a gentler, more honest time
when I had a moment to breathe. I had a moment to process.
(02:16):
And now politics is so messy,it's so cruel, and I hope we
can get back to the time ofstability. Likely not going to happen anytime
soon. But is that why yougot out of media in twenty sixteen,
No, I was. You know, it's interesting. I was at NBC
(02:39):
for eight years and I was coveringCapitol Hill, and I saw what was
happening, but that was something thatI was to something really excited to cover.
But more so I kind of feltunfulfilled. And what I mean by
that is that I had been doingthe job. I threw myself into it
after my father passed away, workedup through the ranks, it got to
(03:00):
a pretty decent position. But Iwas became conscientious of time. When I
turned thirty. I had a friendwho passed away twenty seven, and my
father had died at fifty eight.The light at the end of the tunnel
was closer, and I wasn't feelingfulfilled, and I didn't know who I
was, independent of the news,independent of Washington, DC. So I
wanted to get out and just sortof take a breather or take a pause,
(03:21):
take a rest. And I endedup turning into a three year journey
because I was doing two things.It was one I was looking for something,
which was ultimately acceptance of I can'tbe like you Dad entirely, and
then also running away from dealing withgrief and the face of the hard thing
face of politics. I mean thatyou have to live a year and I'll
(03:42):
live up to that. We almostlike forced you in there because we were
we missed him so much. Itwas like, wow, let's put his
get in, you know. Andso I'm sure the learning curve and everything
in the world curve and is reallystrong. It's hard, and you try
to keep a legacy alive and youtry to keep the flame, and there's
some really great days, but therewere a lot of hard days. And
I never dealt with the grief oflosing Dad. You know I went in
(04:06):
immediately into that public facing thing,and you guys touch up something which I
think I'm deeply appreciative, is thatpart of what I was doing, especially
the twenty two, twenty three,twenty four year old kid, was I
was trying to make people feel better. Right. It's like, oh,
I look at his son and Isee that light still going. But I
never made myself better. I justtried to put everything outwards. So it's
(04:28):
it's a book about that journey,but ultimately getting into a place a piece
and having wonderful conversations like we're doingright now about how how great he was
and how good that era was.We've had you on the calendar for a
month. We've been looking forward toit. Luke Russer, the book is
look for Me There, Grieving myFather, Finding myself. Tell a quick
story on how it became, howthe title became look for Me There.
(04:49):
So I would go to baseball gameswith my father and one of the things
that he would say, this wasthe pre cell phone era if we ever
got separated, to look for there. In this case, it was a
big hot dog stand and an orialbird on it. But there'd be other
things you know, a coffee shopor a light pole outside of a concert
hall. But yesterday I was flyingback from Buffalo and I walked by the
(05:13):
coffee shop just it happened coincidentally atthe airport here in DC, where he
used to say, look for methere, and I peered up because it's
sure, yeah, it's still yousee those signs and you see those places
and what they mean to you,and uh, it's it's very heartwarming when
that happens. I used to beafraid of it, but now I embrace
it. The openness of personal mentalhealth that we've got, we're I guess
(05:40):
allowing. I don't even know whatthe word is that we're accepting in this
country is much more, is muchgreater than it used to be. And
you're hitting it perfectly on time,and it makes so much sense. And
it's a topic by guy. Wereally need to talk about grieving and sadness
and that kind of stuff. Butalso it sounds like the angle is going
to be sort of you're positive,you know what I mean? I like
(06:00):
that. Well. I think thatthe goal with me was that I ended
up going through this process and there'ssome really hard nights and there's some there's
a lot of scars, but there'sa lot of positive too, and I
ultimately came to a place of acceptanceand through acceptance came peace. But one
of the things I say has everyone'sgrief journey is different. There's some folks
(06:23):
who may never accept the loss ofa loved one, and that's that's okay.
You don't have to accept it.Which you need to do though,
is you need to learn how tolive with it. And so long as
you don't bring arm to yourself orbring armed to others, you're doing an
act of a job. And I'mvery happy that weave as this society had
moved in to that space. Youknow, my grandfather he survived a plane
(06:43):
crash in World War Two. Therewas guys on that flight next to him
that died. Ever talked about it. My father kept all his emotions inside.
You know, understand things change overgenerations. But it's okay to say
that, lt. I'm not completelyokay and I'm not there and get to
that place a piece. It's differentfor everybody, but it's okay to talk
about it. Luke Russer, andI know you're running out of time real
(07:05):
quick. Here two questions are youAre you thinking about ever coming back to
media? Well, I never saynever. I liked the storytelling space,
but I think the days of thepolitical correspondent anytime soon. And then who
wins in a fight? You areDoocy Junior on Fox. So after I
(07:26):
traveled, okay, I put onabout twenty pounds because I wasn't worried about
the vanity of television. So Iwould say, if you go back to
when I was on TV, thatwould probably be a pretty fair fight because
we're about the same side. Ithink I got about twenty five pounds on
him now, So unless he hassome sub type of jiu jitsu training or
something. If we're just gonna puta circle in the sand, you can
(07:46):
always go with the heavyweight, right. A couple of people will join it
and help you. Luke Russer,look for me there. It sounds great
and and best of luck to youman. It's guys, I appreciate it.
I'm gonna go up far right nowand we go. Anybody, let's
quit a getting there. Picks oneof six
It's quinnican't ter picks one oh six. Luke Russer and everybody, Hey,
(00:03):
Luke, Hey, guys, howare you doing good? Are you?
Are you still in Buffalo? No, I got back to d C.
But I had a wonderful weekend inBuffalo and we had a three hour line
to Blackthorne Pub and South Buffalo andit was it was so wonderful to reach
next to so many friends and theuh, the Buffalo hospitality, it can't
be beat. There's a good HOSPITALIin all. But you know as well,
(00:24):
I have a customer who lives thereto visit him every now and then.
I didn't look at him stroke.I appreciate that. Luke Russer,
the new book look for me theregrieving my father, finding myself. We
have seen the coverage and the reviewsof the book. Your friends at MSNBC
and NBC gave you a lot oflove promoting this book. And I think
it's number one on Amazon right.It was number one on Amazon and Barnes
(00:45):
and Noble last week, which wascompletely unexpected. It was so unexpected they
sold out. So it's a goodprom to have. But uh, I
got a call late last week andfrom from my book age, and he
goes, hey, we're running outa book, because how is it that
possible. It's like, well,we're running out of books because you gotta
tell folks it's available on audible andKindle. But they're restocking it and there
(01:07):
should be up to speed by theend of the week. It's a good
problem to have, but it's oneof those where it made me very anxious
for a good forty eight hours.Some musen a lot. I mean,
it's it's a it's a great book, but it's also a tribute to how
much we all miss your dad.Obviously not as much as you, but
that I think we lost the lasttime politically we were on sane footing your
(01:32):
father. Yeah, I had ashow. I think you're right. It's
such a good point. It's sucha good point in this coming June June
thirteenth, it's gonna be fifteen yearssince his passing. And one of the
things that I really learned through writingthis book and connecting with people of these
last few weeks is when he died, it really feels like it was the
end of an era, and itwas the era of the broadcast news,
(01:55):
the newspaper. You know, themorning show, the evening show. Social
media is not in our face everytwo seconds. People had a chance to
breathe and to process the news thatwas coming in. And I think folks
look back at that time and theysee his videos or they see his pictures
and they go, oh wow,that was a gentler, more honest time
when I had a moment to breathe. I had a moment to process.
(02:16):
And now politics is so messy,it's so cruel, and I hope we
can get back to the time ofstability. Likely not going to happen anytime
soon. But is that why yougot out of media in twenty sixteen,
No, I was. You know, it's interesting. I was at NBC
(02:39):
for eight years and I was coveringCapitol Hill, and I saw what was
happening, but that was something thatI was to something really excited to cover.
But more so I kind of feltunfulfilled. And what I mean by
that is that I had been doingthe job. I threw myself into it
after my father passed away, workedup through the ranks, it got to
(03:00):
a pretty decent position. But Iwas became conscientious of time. When I
turned thirty. I had a friendwho passed away twenty seven, and my
father had died at fifty eight.The light at the end of the tunnel
was closer, and I wasn't feelingfulfilled, and I didn't know who I
was, independent of the news,independent of Washington, DC. So I
wanted to get out and just sortof take a breather or take a pause,
(03:21):
take a rest. And I endedup turning into a three year journey
because I was doing two things.It was one I was looking for something,
which was ultimately acceptance of I can'tbe like you Dad entirely, and
then also running away from dealing withgrief and the face of the hard thing
face of politics. I mean thatyou have to live a year and I'll
(03:42):
live up to that. We almostlike forced you in there because we were
we missed him so much. Itwas like, wow, let's put his
get in, you know. Andso I'm sure the learning curve and everything
in the world curve and is reallystrong. It's hard, and you try
to keep a legacy alive and youtry to keep the flame, and there's
some really great days, but therewere a lot of hard days. And
I never dealt with the grief oflosing Dad. You know I went in
(04:06):
immediately into that public facing thing,and you guys touch up something which I
think I'm deeply appreciative, is thatpart of what I was doing, especially
the twenty two, twenty three,twenty four year old kid, was I
was trying to make people feel better. Right. It's like, oh,
I look at his son and Isee that light still going. But I
never made myself better. I justtried to put everything outwards. So it's
(04:28):
it's a book about that journey,but ultimately getting into a place a piece
and having wonderful conversations like we're doingright now about how how great he was
and how good that era was.We've had you on the calendar for a
month. We've been looking forward toit. Luke Russer, the book is
look for Me There, Grieving myFather, Finding myself. Tell a quick
story on how it became, howthe title became look for Me There.
(04:49):
So I would go to baseball gameswith my father and one of the things
that he would say, this wasthe pre cell phone era if we ever
got separated, to look for there. In this case, it was a
big hot dog stand and an orialbird on it. But there'd be other
things you know, a coffee shopor a light pole outside of a concert
hall. But yesterday I was flyingback from Buffalo and I walked by the
(05:13):
coffee shop just it happened coincidentally atthe airport here in DC, where he
used to say, look for methere, and I peered up because it's
sure, yeah, it's still yousee those signs and you see those places
and what they mean to you,and uh, it's it's very heartwarming when
that happens. I used to beafraid of it, but now I embrace
it. The openness of personal mentalhealth that we've got, we're I guess
(05:40):
allowing. I don't even know whatthe word is that we're accepting in this
country is much more, is muchgreater than it used to be. And
you're hitting it perfectly on time,and it makes so much sense. And
it's a topic by guy. Wereally need to talk about grieving and sadness
and that kind of stuff. Butalso it sounds like the angle is going
to be sort of you're positive,you know what I mean? I like
(06:00):
that. Well. I think thatthe goal with me was that I ended
up going through this process and there'ssome really hard nights and there's some there's
a lot of scars, but there'sa lot of positive too, and I
ultimately came to a place of acceptanceand through acceptance came peace. But one
of the things I say has everyone'sgrief journey is different. There's some folks
(06:23):
who may never accept the loss ofa loved one, and that's that's okay.
You don't have to accept it.Which you need to do though,
is you need to learn how tolive with it. And so long as
you don't bring arm to yourself orbring armed to others, you're doing an
act of a job. And I'mvery happy that weave as this society had
moved in to that space. Youknow, my grandfather he survived a plane
(06:43):
crash in World War Two. Therewas guys on that flight next to him
that died. Ever talked about it. My father kept all his emotions inside.
You know, understand things change overgenerations. But it's okay to say
that, lt. I'm not completelyokay and I'm not there and get to
that place a piece. It's differentfor everybody, but it's okay to talk
about it. Luke Russer, andI know you're running out of time real
(07:05):
quick. Here two questions are youAre you thinking about ever coming back to
media? Well, I never saynever. I liked the storytelling space,
but I think the days of thepolitical correspondent anytime soon. And then who
wins in a fight? You areDoocy Junior on Fox. So after I
(07:26):
traveled, okay, I put onabout twenty pounds because I wasn't worried about
the vanity of television. So Iwould say, if you go back to
when I was on TV, thatwould probably be a pretty fair fight because
we're about the same side. Ithink I got about twenty five pounds on
him now, So unless he hassome sub type of jiu jitsu training or
something. If we're just gonna puta circle in the sand, you can
(07:46):
always go with the heavyweight, right. A couple of people will join it
and help you. Luke Russer,look for me there. It sounds great
and and best of luck to youman. It's guys, I appreciate it.
I'm gonna go up far right nowand we go. Anybody, let's
quit a getting there. Picks oneof six
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