Tim Russert pays homage to dad in ‘Big Russ &Me’

In an era where most things political seem prone to tarnish, there remains a shining knight-crusader named Tim Russert.

What a resume: The man who restored TV’s longest-running Sunday interview show, NBC’s “Meet the Press,” to ratings and content glory; the man who simplifies the knottiest election problems down to jottings with a marker and erasable hand-held tablet that any viewer can understand; the man who is married to one of celebrity magazine journalism’s hotter properties, Vanity Fair’s Maureen Orth.

And, now, the man whose first book, “Big Russ & Me, Father and Son: Lessons of Life” (Miramax, 352 pages, $22.95) has likely simplified Father’s Day gift choices for a lot of people this year.

Russert wrote “Big Russ & Me,” he said, “to affirm my dad’s life” as an anonymous everyday hero, and because of a sense that the ever-faster-spinning world could use some lessons from 1950s Buffalo, N.Y. — where the beer was cold, the best part of the chicken was the wings, the people were hard-working and friendly, and life was a tad less complicated.

“Maybe we could take a small respite from the politics and challenges and difficulties of today this Father’s Day and acknowledge our dads and maybe even say thank you to them,” says the 54-year-old Russert.

“And dads can say in return, ‘You’re not a bad kid after all.’ That would be kind of a nice feeling.”

If you think this sounds a little bit like NBC cohort Tom Brokaw’s books “A Long Way from Home” and “The Greatest Generation,” you’re right.

“Tom’s dad was called Red; my dad was called Russ,” said Russert, reciting the parallels. “One was from South Dakota, one from South Buffalo. They were both from ‘the greatest generation.’ …

“I think Tom’s success in getting the greatest generation to talk about their war experience was important for our country. What I hope is that all dads can begin to talk with their sons about their relationships, who they are, what they did well. We can all learn from each other.”

And what was Lesson No. 1?

“What I’ve found are the lessons my dad taught me — that many times I rolled my eyes and even laughed about — are coming home in such a powerful way as I try to raise my own son,” Russert says.

“We have to teach our children that they are always, always loved but never, never entitled. That’s the big challenge for our generation of parents. When we were kids, we felt we were never entitled to anything. We were fortunate and overjoyed getting anything.”

Not so with his son, Luke, who turns 19 in August. He can see and routinely get what Russert only dreamt of.

“How can I instill in him those precious values that my dad instilled in me?” Russert asks. “The values of the ‘50s are just as applicable in this century.”

Orth, who is touring to support her own book, “The Importance of Being Famous: Behind the Scenes of the Celebrity Industrial Complex” (Henry Holt, 352 pages, $25), was among the first readers of “Big Russ.”

“She actually had one important comment about our whole role with school and trying to work with kids on avoiding drugs and alcohol, that it was a lesson that could be important for people and so I reinforced that,” Russert says.

He says he did similar duty on her book, but adds, “We really do have two different careers.”

They seldom cross the same news paths. “We’ve been very fortunate,” Russert says. “Michael Jackson hasn’t been on ‘Meet the Press.’ “