, Bob Simon , Fran Schneidau , Jeff Fager , Morley Safer , Rowayton
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – CBS colleagues, friends and fans alike are sharing memories of longtime “60 Minutes” commentator Andy Rooney , who died Friday night from complications following minor surgery . He was 92-years-old.
“It’s hard to imagine not having Andy around,” said executive producer of “60 Minutes” and chairman of CBS News Jeff Fager. “He loved his life and he lived it on his own terms. We will miss him very much.”
Rooney will always be remembered for his wry and humorous television essays. He died just a month after stepping away from the job he adored.
“Not many people in the world have been as lucky as I’ve been,” he said in his final broadcast on “60 Minutes.”
Rooney’s commentaries each week at the end of popular news magazine show became part of the American fabric, woven together by the words and phrases most everyone thought.
“I don’t know anything off-hand that mystifies Americans more than the cotton they put in pill bottles, why do they do it,” Rooney once asked.
Morley Safer worked with Rooney for decades.
“I think what made him a wonderful writer, he would prefer that term by the way, was that he had a remarkable eye for detail,” Safer said. “People would say ‘you know I never really thought about it, but he is right, there really isn’t enough cereal in that box and what are paper weights really for anyway.’”
“I was thinking about baseball this morning. His slot will be retired like Joe DiMaggio’s number five was retired. There will never be another DiMaggio, even though there will be great baseball players, and there will never be another Andy Rooney,” said “60 Minutes” correspondent Bob Simon.
Those who knew Rooney said he was the same person on camera as he was off.
“I think he was one of the few people who a mass audience identified with, genuinely identified with because he was a real character, not a make-believe character, in any way,” said Safer. “As I said, he was precisely the same sitting in that chair or behind that desk as he was sitting over dinner.”
In his 1,097th and last commentary on Oct. 2, he looked into the lens and told America just how he felt.
“This is a moment I’ve dreaded,” he said. ”I wish I could do this forever .”
In Rooney’s hometown of Rowayton, Conn ., his white, stucco colonial home sits empty as residents are remembering their neighbor.
LISTEN: WCBS 880′s Connecticut Bureau Fran Schneidau reports
“I met Mr. Rooney, probably four or five times over the course of the last ten years here,” said one resident. ”But honestly, for the last 40 years of my life, he’s been an American institution and just a part of everybody’s life.”
He’ll be missed at the Rowayton Market, the seafood restaurant downtown he frequented. Neighbor Ward Wharton took a moment after hearing the news to send a special salute to the man he so admired.
“He lived just around the corner here, that house, and I drove over here this morning to get coffee and I just looked at the house and said, ‘Take care, Andy,’” said Wharton.
Condolences have also been pouring in to the CBS New York Facebook page . Here are just a few:
He was a joy to watch and listen to…..if only more people thought the way he did….Mr. Common Sense he was…
Wow….God bless. Condolences to the Rooney Family and the CBS family too. You will truly be missed.
Very saddened by this news. Even in his 90′s his commentaries were always relevant and made me chuckle
I have enjoyed his wit and sarcasm for the longest. Truly an icon! RIP
A tv icon that will be missed for sure!
Sorry to read this, RIP. He did what he loved for most of his life, and that’s something most of us wish for.
He was an honest trusted journalist who will be missed
No word yet on funeral arrangements but his son Brian Rooney said Saturday that while services will be private, CBS is expected to hold a public memorial.
Sunday night, “60 Minutes” will be airing a special tribute to Andy Rooney starting at 7 p.m.
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