Remembering Tony Snow

Heartbreaking, though not unexpected, news this morning: Tony Snow has lost his battle with cancer and passed away at the age of 53.

Last May Tony cancelled a speech in Ohio, and though I checked Google News regularly, he has been out of the news ever since. He had signed with CNN as a commentator in April but has been absent from the network's political coverage. CNN's obituary is here.

A video tribute narrated by Brit Hume has been posted at Fox News Channel.

Mike Allen of the Politico has written a tribute including quotes from several of Tony's Fox colleagues, as well as President George H.W. Bush, for whom Tony worked as speechwriter.

Here are tributes from Ed Morrissey, Michelle Malkin, John Podhoretz, and Time.

One of my favorite memories of Tony is when he subbed for Rush Limbaugh several years ago. He shared memories of a recent trip to Italy with his family and talked about the magic of watching fireflies with his young children. His monologue about that trip was a piece of poetry.

Tony is survived by his wife and three children. Tony had a deep Christian faith and, while he will be greatly missed, it's a solace knowing he's out of pain, in a far better place.