Press Secretary Relished Job

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Tony Snow: 1955 - 2008

Conservative commentator and former White House press secretary Tony Snow has died of cancer at age 53.

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And he occasionally let his passion draw him into personal exchanges with reporters, such as when he accused NBC chief White House correspondent David Gregory of expressing the "Democratic point of view" and "being rude."

Gregory retorted, "Don't point your finger at me." Snow later called Gregory to apologize.

Just before Snow left the White House last year, Gregory conducted an extended interview with him about his experience with cancer.

"It was a very emotional interview," Gregory recalled yesterday. "It was important for him to do this on camera . . . because he wanted to send a message to people who are living with this disease."

"I did battle with him in the press room," Gregory added. "But experiencing him one-on-one like that while he was fighting cancer just gave me insight into what a courageous guy he was."

Snow leavened his tense tenure with humor and music. He was friends with the members of Jethro Tull and played flute, saxophone and backup guitar in his own band, called Beats Workin'. He also appeared on National Public Radio's weekly humor show, "Wait, Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!"

From the beginning, Snow was open about his battles with cancer. His mother had died of colon cancer when he was in high school, and he frequently said he felt he had been "stalked by cancer." It struck him in February 2005 when a checkup found that he had the same cancer that killed his mother.

Then a Fox News talk radio host, Snow opted for aggressive treatment, enduring two operations, six months of chemotherapy and the removal of his colon. When White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten asked him to replace Scott McClellan as press secretary in April 2006, Snow first got the endorsement of his doctor.

Cancer, Snow later said, was "the best thing that ever happened to me" because it brought him closer to his wife, Jill, and their three young children. He constantly wore a yellow LiveStrong wristband popularized by bicycle racer Lance Armstrong and choked up at his first televised White House briefing when discussing his experiences.

Snow underwent frequent scans and checkups, and doctors found a growth in his abdomen in March 2007. When they operated that month, they discovered that the cancer had returned and spread to his liver. Snow returned to the White House podium five weeks later, then left his position in September.

Robert Anthony Snow was born June 1, 1955, in Berea, Ky., and grew up in Cincinnati. His father was a teacher and assistant principal, and his mother was an inner-city nurse. By Snow's description, his was a liberal, idealistic family that cared about poverty and race relations. In high school, Snow was president of the National Honor Society, a varsity tennis player and, not surprisingly, a member of the debate team.

He attended Davidson College in North Carolina, where he sported a beard and ponytail and was a self-described Marxist. But he grew disaffected with American liberalism before graduating with a philosophy degree in 1977.