and then the white house for the new york times and then, of course, coming to nbc. john hollen. our producer. tim russert had to talk her in to coming into television and at one point he said what are you afraid of? and that was a turning point for her. but you see in that tape in 94 when she was there with tom, i was looking at that last night, you know, she s new to television but you see that spark there, that intelligence, that calmness, that poise, came through right from the beginning. and i always thought, you know, it s the church roots. we who are in gwen s blessed circle know that new year s day is gwen s ifill s day. she had an open house and we were always there. you can t even think about new year s without her. she loved to cook, she loved to