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Others knew him much better, many of my colleagues are much closer, but I do cherish the friendship I enjoyed with Tony Snow.

Like the time I ended up in the LA Bureau late and he was hungry, all he wanted was some Chinese food.

“Hey Housley”, he said. “Can you find me some Chinese food?”

We jumped in my car and headed down the street, where I bought him dinner and listened to so many great stories. What amazed me was how I really felt like he cared about my opinions and what I felt on an issue.

Whether baseball (he was a big fan) or border issues. In fact, on a trip to Washington D.C, and coincidentally just a few days before he accepted the position in the White House, Tony heard I was in town and called me into his office.

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I remember thinking…wow…Tony Snow actually cares that I am in D.C.! He showed me the radio studio, teased Griff Jenkins and myself, then spent an hour asking me about baseball and about the border. 

At one point he even asked “what would you do?” This was a guy who even when he had no time, he found some. Time he spent humoring a correspondent based 3,000 miles away.

Sometimes the best way to measure someone is to understand how they treat those that maybe aren’t so close. Here is the best example. On a trip to Mexico City I was having breakfast with a man named Miguel Monterrubio; at the time he was the foreign press secretary for President Calderon.

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During our morning chat, Miguel mentioned he was a big baseball fan and a big fan of the Cincinnati Reds. I remembered that every time Tony and I chatted he cherished his Reds, so upon returning home to the states, I dropped Tony an e-mail. I mentioned that I had met Miguel and that he was a big Reds fan and that Tony should say hello when the Presidents meet in Merida.

Much to my surprise, the plane had only been on the ground for a few minutes in Merida, Mexico when Tony asked President Calderon about Miguel and then headed right to the man and shook his hand. Miguel would tell me later that he was shocked, proud and grateful for such a gesture.

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Tony would later return to Washington and send Miguel a signed photo of the President throwing out the first pitch at a Reds game. Miguel hangs that picture and Tony’s note proudly. All that from an e-mail.

While not a best friend, or even a close friend, I too will miss Tony’s friendship.

I sent him an e-mail only last week. I hope he got the chance to see it. I am lucky to have known him and I was very lucky to work on ‘Weekend Live’ every weekend and guest on “The Tony Snow’ radio show.

He was always very warm and welcoming to me in every single instance. Always joking over the satellite while we were in commercial, usually teasing me about my teams (the Giants and A’s), or suggesting I should get warmed up to go back into the game.

He will be missed and I am happy to say that I knew him.

We should all have his energy, love of country and warmth.

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A reader sent 22Moon a poem

for Tony Snow, check it out!

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You

Your ways be you,
Holding words of new.
Waken to the truth shared,
Yet, you can not pretend to care.

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Few souls should be so bold,
Dare not question your mold.
Shaping thoughts,
Shaping hearts,
Knowing be your art.

By Dario Gonzalez

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