Journalists and media personalities responded emotionally to the loss of CBS News’ “60 Minutes” correspondent and foreign reporter Bob Simon, who died in a car crash Wednesday evening in New York City.
Simon was riding in the passenger seat of a vehicle that lost control and hit another at West 32nd Street and 12th Avenue in Manhattan at 6:45 p.m. The veteran reporter was later pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Roosevelt Hospital. He was 73 years old.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who had worked closely with Simon in the past, reacted to the news on air Wednesday evening. Cooper said that from the time he was a small child, he looked up to Simon.
“To me, he was everything a reporter should be and that I dreamed of being and still to this day hope to be a quarter of the reporter and the writer that Bob Simon was,” Cooper said.
In an emotional tribute, Cooper stressed just how beloved Simon was by everyone in the business.
“When Bob Simon presented a story on ’60 Minutes,’ you knew it was going to be something special,” Cooper added. “All those who worked with him have special memories and I think it’s incomprehensible to a lot of people.”
Journalists and former colleagues of Simon’s shared some of those memories on Twitter:
#BobSimon blended authority & effervescence like no one else in news. One line of track and u knew whom u were with. pic.twitter.com/jNTFHP54zI
— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla) February 12, 2015
Courageous, tenacious, curious, insightful, witty and eloquent – everything I admire in a journalist – #BobSimon had it all unsurpassed. RIP
— Miles O’Brien (@milesobrien) February 12, 2015
Bob Simon was an extraordinary journalist and story teller. Made us care about the world around us. True professional. Such a huge loss!
— Matt Lauer (@MLauer) February 12, 2015
So sorry to learn of the passing of Bob Simon. He was a great reporter & wonderful man. A frequent guest of mine. So sorry to hear this. RIP
— Larry King (@kingsthings) February 12, 2015
Heartbreaking news about Bob Simon of @60Minutes, a brilliant writer and reporter and someone I admired deeply.
— Katie Couric (@katiecouric) February 12, 2015
Terrible about CBS ace Bob Simon who survived perils across globe to die in a livery cab on the West Side Hgwy. You never know. Condolences.
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) February 12, 2015
RIP Bob Simon, a giant whose writing was worthy of one of his profession’s greatest compliments: you wished you’d written it. He was 73.
— Josh Elliott (@JoshElliott32) February 12, 2015
A Bob Simon gem: “People have told me that…you’ve got the best ‘flow’. My problem is I don’t know what that means” http://t.co/yWeAj3GRgI
— Libby Leist (@libbyleist) February 12, 2015
Deeply saddened by death of great journalist Bob Simon. My heart goes out to his family and daughter, Tanya, a superb @60Minutes producer
— Norah O’Donnell (@NorahODonnell) February 12, 2015
very sad….feel terrible for Bob Simon’s family @SixtyMinutes and what a loss for all of us who admired his work
— Greta Van Susteren (@greta) February 12, 2015
