Me and Tony Snow

I just saw a piece on MSNBC about White House spokesman Tony Snow. Apparently his cancer has returned. I interviewed him once in Monterey.
Two years ago, Snow was diagnosed with colon cancer. His colon was removed and underwent two years of chemotherapy. According to the news reports I've seen and read, Snow was nearing two years of remission when the cancer reappeared.
The MSNBC report, part of Keith Oberman's show, depicted Snow's chemo treatment. During the chemo, he had lost weight, his hair had lost color and was thinning, but he used to leave work early on Fridays for treatment. They showed a shot of him sitting in a recliner, plugged into an iv, looking at the screen of a blackberry and typing a message. The man continued to work through chemo. And not just work, but work as a press secretary when the white house press corps started to ask real questions again. Damn. that's strength.
I remember when I met him. It was a 15-minute press conference before he and Dick Gephart (I met him too -- weird looking dude) lectured before a college audience as part of Leon Pannetta's Institute for public policy at CSUMB. I only took the assignment because I figured it put me in line to cover Hilliary Clinton's visit to the Panetta Institute. If you're wondering, no it didn't.
there were mostly local reporters -- KSBW, KCBA, KION, the Salinas California, the Monterey Herald -- assigned to the press conference. Maybe there was an AP reporter or someone from the San Jose Merc -- I don't remember.
Each reporter basically had the time to ask one question. So I tried to roll everything into one question. I don't remember what it was but it vaguely had something to do with meaningful debate despite rancorous partisanship in D.C.. Panetta, Gephart and Snow all laughed and said something equally inconsequential.
But I remember at some point Snow addressed the reporters as if he was one of us.
"Come on guys, we know we've got to work with the facts," he said. or something like that.
I silently stewed in anger: how could this talking head from the Fox network, practically an apologist for the bush administration, call himself a journalist? Outside of his t.v. work, his time at newspapers was writing right-wing editorials.
I think hours later I came up with some brilliant, cutting rebuttal in my head.
I forgot what that was too.
But I still think the same about him. After all, he is literally the white house's spokesman. And if I met him again, i'd tell him so. at least i'd like to think so.
but I'd also give him props for fighting his cancer like an aggressive reporter goes after a story.