Damon Weaver, who at age 11 grew to become one of many youngest individuals to interview a sitting president and later gained consideration for sco
Damon Weaver, who at age 11 grew to become one of many youngest individuals to interview a sitting president and later gained consideration for scoring different high-profile interviews with celebrities akin to Dwyane Wade and Oprah Winfrey, died on Might 1. He was 23.
The demise was confirmed by Candace Hardy, Mr. Weaver’s sister. She advised WPTV-TV in West Palm Seaside, Fla., that her brother had texted her whereas she was at work that he was within the hospital. By the point she went to see him, he had already died, she stated.
In 2009, Mr. Weaver, then 11, carried out a sit-down interview with President Barack Obama within the Diplomatic Room of the White Home, questioning him on matters just like the Obama administration’s efforts to enhance training in lower-income areas akin to Mr. Weaver’s hometown, Pahokee, Fla., and Mr. Obama’s basketball expertise.
“You probably did an excellent job at this interview, so somebody should be doing one thing proper at that college,” Mr. Obama advised Mr. Weaver after the 11-year-old prolonged an invite to return go to him at Kathryn E. Cunningham/Canal Level Elementary College in South Florida.
Earlier than his assembly with Mr. Obama, Mr. Weaver gained sizable consideration from an interview in 2008 with Joseph R. Biden Jr., then Mr. Obama’s operating mate.
Damon Lazar Weaver Jr. was born on April 1, 1998, in keeping with his funeral announcement. His sister advised WPTV that Mr. Weaver was “a light-weight” and “the lifetime of the get together.” In keeping with the station, Mr. Weaver graduated from highschool with a full scholarship to Albany State College in Georgia. He graduated from the college in 2020, in keeping with a submit on his Instagram web page.
“Everyone simply couldn’t wait to be round him,” Ms. Hardy advised WPTV. “Household gatherings, they had been all the time enjoyable simply due to his presence.”
Details about Mr. Weaver’s survivors was not instantly obtainable.
Mr. Weaver additionally lined Mr. Obama’s inauguration because the 44th president for his faculty’s tv information program, interviewing inauguration attendees and celebrities together with Ms. Winfrey and Samuel L. Jackson. In an interview with The Related Press earlier than heading to Washington, Mr. Weaver highlighted what he loved most about being a reporter.
“I preferred seeing individuals on TV, so I assumed that I might do this job in the future,” Mr. Weaver stated. “I like being a reporter since you get to study a variety of issues, you get to fulfill good individuals and also you get to journey loads.”
Mr. Weaver stated that his favourite topics in class on the time had been studying and math and that he had objectives of turning into a journalist in the future and possibly even a soccer participant, an astronaut or president.
“I’m very pleased with him,” Regina Weaver, Mr. Weaver’s mom, advised The A.P. “I by no means imagined that this undertaking would go so far as it has gone.”