Russert , then a student at the Cleveland – Marshall College of Law , attended Ten Cent Beer Night , a promotion by the Cleveland Indians which ended in a riot at the stadium . " I went with $ 2 in my pocket , " he recalled . " You do the math . " In 2004 Russert penned a best-selling autobiography , '' Big Russ and Me '' , which chronicled his life growing up in the predominantly Irish American working-class neighborhood of South Buffalo and his education at Canisius High School . Russert 's father Timothy Joseph Russert , " Big Russ " , was a World War II veteran who held down two jobs after the war , emphasized the importance of maintaining strong family values , the reverence of faith , and never taking a short cut to reach a goal . Russert claimed to have received over 60,000 letters from people in response to the book , detailing their own experiences with their fathers . He released '' Wisdom of Our Fathers : Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons '' in 2005 , a collection of some of these letters . This book also became a best-seller
Ten Cent Beer Night
Ten Cent Beer Night
Tim Russert