The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

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Bob Simon, “60 Minutes” alumnus, dead at 73

Bob Simon, 60 Minutes alumnus, dead at 73

By Scotty Schenck, photo editor

For over 40 years, Bob Simon had a voice that people could recognize instantly – deep and smooth. On Feb. 11, Simon was killed in a car crash at about 7 p.m. in New York City after his car veered into a pedestrian expansion, according to the New York Post.

Simon was 73.

Maybe it was the 27 Emmys. Maybe it was the 3 Peabody Awards. Maybe it was the fact that through wars, captivity and his spot on “60 Minutes,” Bob Simon was a man on the television screens of millions of Americans that trusted him.

Simon was born in Bronx, N.Y. on May 29, 1941 and majored in history at Brandeis University in Walthamin 1962.

His career started in 1969 and in 1971 Simon began covering the Vietnam War. Simon stood aboard one of the final helicopters to leave Vietnam in 1975. Later, in the 1980s, he was named CBS News Chief Middle Eastern correspondent. Simon and his crew were captured in Iraq in 1991 and remained in prison for 40 days. In 1996, he joined “60 Minutes” as a correspondent, winning several other major awards in his time with the network.

“He was one of the best writers ever to work in television journalism.  He was a master of expressing so much with so few words, perfectly chosen and ordered,” Dan Rather said, a former CBS Evening News anchor and “60 Minutes” correspondent in an article on CNN.

Simon was riding in a limousine on the West Side Highway of Manhattan when the driver lost control, causing the limo to collide with another vehicle. The driver has had his license suspended nine times since November 2011, according to Yahoo News.

On Tuesday, Feb. 17, his funeral was privately held in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, with about 150 present. He is survived by his wife, Françoise Simon, his daughter, Tanya, and his grandson Jack.

Photo courtesy NBC News. 

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