This was my wake-up surprise today:

Tim Russert, who pointedly but politely questioned hundreds of the powerful and influential as moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press," died suddenly Friday while preparing for his weekly broadcast. The network's Washington bureau chief was 58.

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The cause of death was not immediately clear. The network said on its Web site that Russert died of a heart attack, but spokeswoman Jenny Tartikoff later said, "We do not know the cause yet." Russert collapsed while preparing for his show at NBC's studios across town from the White House.

Russert, of Buffalo, N.Y., took the helm of the Sunday news show in December 1991 and turned it into the nation's most widely watched program of its type. His signature trait there was an unrelenting style of questioning that made some politicians reluctant to appear, yet confident that they could claim extra credibility if they survived his grilling intact.