Look for Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself

by Luke Russert

Overview

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Updated with new afterword from the author.

In Look for Me There, Luke Russert traverses terrain both physical and deeply personal. On his journey to some of the world’s most stunning destinations, he visits the internal places of grief, family, faith, ambition, and purpose—with intense self-reflection, honesty, and courage."—Savannah Guthrie, coanchor of Today

“Look for me there,” news legend Tim Russert would tell his son, Luke, when confirming a pickup spot at an airport, sporting event, or rock concert. After Tim died unexpectedly, Luke kept looking for his father, following in Tim’s footsteps and carving out a highly successful career at NBC News. After eight years covering politics on television, Luke realized he had no good answer as to why he was chasing his father’s legacy. As the son of two accomplished parents—his mother is journalist Maureen Orth of Vanity Fair—Luke felt the pressure of high expectations but suddenly decided to leave the familiar path behind.

Instead, Luke set out on his own to find answers. What began as several open-ended months of travel to decompress and reassess morphed into a three-plus-year odyssey across six continents to discover the world and, ultimately, to find himself.

Chronicling the important lessons and historical understandings Luke discovered from his travels, Look for Me There is both the vivid narrative of that journey and the emotional story of a young man taking charge of his life, reexamining his relationship with his parents, and finally grieving his larger-than-life father, who died too young.

For anyone uncertain about the direction of their life or unsure of how to move forward after a loss, Look for Me There is a poignant reflection that offers encouragement to examine our choices, take risks, and discover our truest selves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780785291879
Publisher:	Harper Horizon
Publication date:	05/07/2024
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	15,509
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Luke Orth Russert is an Emmy Award–winning journalist who was an NBC News correspondent from 2008 to 2016, primarily covering American politics. Since leaving broadcast journalism, he is the author of Look for Me There, a travel memoir about his three-and-a-half-year journey around the world that took him to more than sixty-five countries. Based in Washington, DC, he is the son of journalists Maureen Orth (Vanity Fair) and the late Tim Russert (NBC's Meet the Press).

Editorial Reviews

'One book, two remarkable and compelling journeys. In Look for Me There, Luke Russert puts to the test — and beyond any doubt validates - his perhaps unrivaled storytelling DNA. Worth the read just to take a vivid trip around the globe, a colorful, insightful and meticulously detailed travel diary that transports the reader to some of the world's most intriguing cities, hidden corners and fascinating cultures. And with those travels comes a mourning son's poignant and brutally honest personal journey; to process devastating loss and grief, to wrestle with his sense of self and place, with questions of faith and family — and to ultimately balance the burden of expectations with the freedom of picking his own path. Look for Me There is bursting with fabulous storytelling, and with valuable life lessons.'

CNN Chief National Correspondent and host of Insid John King

'In Look For Me There, Luke Russert traverses terrain both physical and deeply personal. On his journey to some of the world's most stunning destinations, he visits the internal places of grief, family, faith, ambition and purpose—with intense self-reflection, honesty and courage.'

co-anchor Today Savannah Guthrie

'A beautiful well-written story of a young man coming into his own, finding his faith and understanding his purpose.'

acclaimed journalist and founder of The Sunday Pap Maria Shriver

'This starts as the story of one father and one son, and soon grows into something much deeper and more profound: a meditation on loss, and grief, a search for home, a journey to find a missing hero that leads the author finally back to himself. It is Luke Russert's story but in the end, the main character is you, the reader.'

senior ESPN writer and bestselling author of Pappy Wright Thompson

'A rich and compelling account of family, grief and coming of age. Luke Russert turns tragedy into rich lessons of life.'

legendary journalist and author of The Greatest Ge Tom Brokaw

'Blown. Away. Luke Russert's story of heartbreaking loss and hard-earned self-discovery captivates from start to finish. This is the memoir of the year, if not the decade.'

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Summer of Elin Hilderbrand

'In Look for Me There, Luke Russert traverses terrain both physical and deeply personal. On his journey to some of the world's most stunning destinations, he visits the internal places of grief, family, faith, ambition, and purpose—with intense self-reflection, honesty, and courage.'

coanchor of Today Savannah Guthrie

2023-06-07
Former NBC News correspondent Russert recalls the life of his late father, “America’s most beloved political TV journalist.”

This memoir is a sort of why-are-we-here meditation that sometimes strays into mawkish territory, though it’s certainly well intended. After his father, Tim Russert (1950-2008), fell victim to a heart attack, the author was courted as a kind of dynastic heir. “You have a gift,” said one executive. “You could be a very good presence on air. TV needs more young people.” The author worked for a few years until being pushed to follow his bliss by several guiding voices, including, surprisingly, John Boehner, who, in a profanity-laced (“Shut up, asshole”) bit of tough love, encouraged Russert to hit the road and see the world. The soul-searching that follows is the least interesting part of the book (“Am I trying to show Dad, beyond the grave, that his boy could be like him?”), but the next steps have their moments. The author visited places like Bangkok and Buenos Aires, where he connected with his mother, herself a former correspondent and bon vivant who has a gift for tucking away both her fame and her grief in individual compartments. Russert too easily falls into canned travelogue-speak: “It’s hard to leave Japan. I’ve fallen in love with the country’s decency, its honor, and its order. It’s odd, I suppose, to travel the world, cutting ties with the demands of the past, seeking a free-spirited existence and yet craving the orderliness of Japan.” At his best, the author is aware of his privileged position as a traveler with no apparent limits on time or budget. Thankfully, Russert doesn’t spend too much time feeling sorry for himself, honoring his father’s observation, “Nobody likes a martyr.”

A middling memoir, but those working through grief may find some solace in Russert’s pages.

Kirkus Reviews