Tony Snow

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I didn’t want to believe this, when I saw it in my e-mail this morning. The last time I saw Tony–and it wasn’t so long ago–he was his typical upbeat, funny, vigorous self.
Peter Baker sums up his style in the White House press room:

He was lively and entertaining, he could be disarmingly candid when ducking a question and he did not hesitate to retreat when it became clear he had gone too far. He could tell reporters to “zip it” one minute while defusing tension the next by admitting that he knew so little on a topic that he was “not going to fake it.” He enjoyed the give-and-take of a tough briefing, but his smile, upbeat energy and glib repartee seemed to take the edge off sometimes rough rhetoric on behalf of a unpopular leader and unpopular policies.

Tony fought a hard and brave fight, and will be missed. Our condolences to his family.