My heart sank after I read Tom Russo died over the weekend. If you lived in the Pine Belt in the mid 1990s, you likely remember he co-anchored the news at 5 and 10 on WDAM-TV.
From time to time, Tom was also a guest of what was then WQIS Talk Radio 890. You might also remember the night Tom kept calm while reporting William Hatcher and Robbie Bond were murdered in Perry County.
Tom’s career took him to other stations in Mississippi and Alabama. His last job was assignment manager at WPMI-TV in Mobile, Alabama.
Based on my own recollection and other online accounts, when Tom took on a new professional assignment, he brought his keen sense of humor with him to the newsroom.
Thomas David Russo was truly one of the good guys of the news business — and left this life much too soon at the age of 56.
His obiturary: http://wolfefuneralhomes.com/obituary/thomas-tommy-russo