{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://nolan.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/mesabi-daily-news-politics-on-home-for-nolan-the-father", "Mesabi Daily News: Politics on home for Nolan, the father", "2017-11-29", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "MN", "Rick Nolan", "N000127", "nolan.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Eighth District U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan\u2019s daughter Katherine is in a daily life-and-death struggle with a lung cancer for which there is currently no cure.\n\n\n\tBut the congressman is still thankful this Thanksgiving weekend because Katherine is not only alive, but also handling well the latest regimen of \u201cwonder\u201d drugs trying to fend off the nasty foe that is adenocarcinoma stage 4 lung cancer.\n\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\n\tKatherine, in her early-40s with four children elementary school to college age, has the Irish fight and stubbornness of her old man, traits oh so needed in this battle for more adventures, more loving moments with family, more change of seasons, more life.\n\n\n\t\u201cI always remind her what Rick says, \u2018We win the tough races,\u2019\u201d said Nolan\u2019s longtime friend and Washington aide Steve Johnson in a recent telephone interview, referring to a history of razor-thin election victories.\n\n\n\t\u201cThe new wonder drug \u2026. which had been tried previously and worked for a while but then couldn\u2019t be tolerated \u2026. is doing well right now.\u201d\n\n\n\tThat small sigh you hear is a collective one of hope from the Nolan family. But, of course, the vigilant health fight goes on day after day for Katherine and loved ones.\n\n\n\tI first met and interviewed Rick Nolan in the late-1970s when he was serving as 6th District congressman from 1975 to 1981 and I was a political reporter for The Sentinel newspaper in Fairmont, Minn. Fairmont was in the Republican-friendly 6th District but butted up against the 2nd District.\n\n\n\tHe was an energetic DFL political boy wonder at the time, first elected to Congress at age 31 in 1974 after narrowly losing to incumbent John Zwach in 1972 in an area that was a swing district.\n\n\n\tNolan has always been a \u201cgood\u201d interview for a reporter. Never one to dodge questions or speak in cliches, Nolan has a quick wit that he employs easily. There has never been anything forced by the congressman.\n\n\n\tMy recollection is that the interview about 40 years ago dealt with agriculture and roads \u2014 prime topics always in southwestern Minnesota.\n\n\n\tWhat a difference 40 years can make. When we talk politics now it\u2019s mining, mining, more mining and a dose of health care. On a personal level, it\u2019s now about grown children and the grandkids.\n\n\n\tBut in a March 2015 interview, issues were put on the back burner. Rick Nolan was much more a father than a congressman that afternoon. And he was a hurting Dad.\n\n\n\tThe Nolan family had released information on Katherine\u2019s health condition earlier that year. It was our first chance to talk since he had gone public with his daughter\u2019s situation.\n\n\n\tTears came easily to both of us as he voiced his love of Katherine, and I thought back to my daughter Nicole\u2019s health difficulties.\n\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\n\tFathers aren\u2019t supposed to be unable to answer a question of \u201cWhy, why me, Dad?\u201d That\u2019s what Nicole had asked me at age 6 as the effects of a medulloblastoma brain tumor ravaged her body.\n\n\n\tNolan said Katherine\u2019s lung cancer defied logic. A non-smoker, her lifestyle has always been healthy.\n\n\n\tHe simply shrugged his shoulders, wiped away a tear and took a deep, difficult breath. His little girl was dying.\n\n\n\tBut Johnson said on this recent day that Katherine\u2019s spirits remain high, and her father still carries his ever-present optimism with a good outlook for the future. After all, medical cures are found each and every year.\n\n\n\tAnd, together, they are a most formidable team in the fight for her life.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://nolan.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/mesabi-daily-news-politics-on-home-for-nolan-the-father"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.688607968389988, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}