Goodbye, Andy

Andy Rooney read his last essay as a regular contributor of CBS's "60 Minutes" tonight, ending a 33-year career of getting the last word on the prestigious TV news magazine, but also capping a career as a writer that goes back seven decades.  He started out as a reporter for the Stars and Stripes Army newspaper in World War II, and later he would be known for his work for talk show host Arthur Godfrey and his writing and producing for CBS newsman Harry Reasoner before becoming "60 Minutes"'s regular essayist. 

Rooney is a rarity among television personalities; he's someone who's exactly the same off screen as he is on.  He always made his tenure at "60 Minutes" about the essays and commentaries he wrote, not about himself, and his wit and wry observations cut through the air without much getting in their way.  Once in awhile Rooney would strike a sour note. His comments about the gay lifestyle led many to charge him with homophobia, and his loaded derision of Kurt Cobain for committing suicide when "a lot of people would like to have the years left that he threw away" generated almost unanimous criticism.  (Rooney failed to take the rock star's depression into account.)  But he mostly got things right, whether commenting on consumer products or the spectacularly ridiculous advertising that accompanies them or the price of tickets to sporting events. 

Among my favorite Rooney TV pieces is his 1980 essay "How We Elect the President," explaining the process of picking a U.S. President from the first caucus to the general election, which was a masterful satire of the long, drawn-out affair.  Rooney is also a newspaper columnist as well, where he's commented on everything from kitchen appliances to the original watercoooled Volkswagen Beetle with aplomb.  It's hard not think of a mundane or thought-provoking topic that he hasn't given any curmudgeonly thought to.  And on "60 Minutes," he did it 1,097 times.

He signed off tonight saying that he's not retiring from writing, because even at 92 years of age, he's a writer and he always will be, and he thanked viewers for listening to what he had to say for 33 years.  He's sure to be around in some capacity after tonight, and I'm sure he'll have something to say about it. :-)