While I did not know Tony Snow personally, it greatly saddens me to see yet another great journalist die in his early 50s right on the heels of Tim Russert. By all accounts, Tony, like Tim, was a man who achieved great things in the competitive world of political journalism yet he never forgot his humble roots.

In a world in which far too many people are constantly reminding us of how wonderful they are, it is so refreshing to pause and take note of how Tony Snow lived his life, and bravely faced his death. Tony Snow provides a great example of courage and humility.

Tony Snow was reared in a middle class family in Ohio, where his dad was an educator and his mother a nurse. He suffered the loss of his mother to colon cancer at only the age of 17.

Tony was also a family man and leaves behind a wife and three young children. He was an avid musician and played in a band that did cover songs. Clearly, Tony led a full and balanced life.

Upon hearing Tony's view points on his show, watching how he fielded tough questions as press secretary and seeing him interviewed when in the advanced stages of his illness, I got the strong impression that Tony was a man of great courage and humility. By the accounts of many who knew and worked with him, that was resoundingly the case.

Tony was not afraid to speak his opinion, but in doing so, he did not belittle anyone or show the arrogance that is often associated with those who have to be right. Tony treated others around him with dignity, all while speaking the truth. It takes great courage to be a vessal of truth in this day, yet Tony consistently conducted himself in that manner and in very high profile roles.

Tony was also a man of humility, and I cannot begin to describe how much I admire that in anyone, especially someone with his remarkable achievements. It takes great discipline to be humble, but more importantly, it requires us to keep our egos in check. Those who are humble, like Tony, tend to be kind and respectful in all of their interactions with others, and sincerely not viewing themselves as better than the next person.

Humble people tend to give of themselves. In Tony's case, he gave generously of his talents in the public sector and in journalism, and he will be greatly missed. He also gave to all of us a precious gift: someone we can admire and strive to be more like.

Finally, Tony was a man of great faith, and his faith probably greatly helped him in his walk of courage and humility in his amazing but too-soon-ended life.

Hopefully, we can all take pause and assess in our own news how we could be more like this great man of courage and humility.

In closing, here is a poem by John W. Wayland called "The True Gentleman." FoxNews used this poem to describe Tony Snow and it truly is a great description of what I have tried to convey in this Hub.

The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe.

-John Walter Wayland