Yesterday marked the passing of Andy Rooney. A journalist, war reporter, radio and TV writer, and in reality, the original “blogger.” Of course, in his day, the term was “essayist,” because the words were written on paper, and not on a computer. I like the term “essayist” better–it has a much more literary ring to it. There’s something about the term “blogger” that makes me a bit uncomfortable. It sounds like you’re coughing up something. Maybe that’s it–a “blogger” coughs up stuff, and an “essayist” writes things.
Back to Andy. I (along with a lot of people) will truly miss his weekly comments on “60 Minutes.” I can’t say always agreed with him (although I did an awful lot of times), but I always enjoyed the way he said it, and I loved his candor. He commented on everything from hot dog buns, to pill-bottle cotton, to pop culture, to terrorism. And he refused to trim his eyebrows. He even said on the air that “That’s where I draw the line.” You have to love a guy like that. He sometimes said things that people found offensive and even hurtful. One more than one occasion, he apologized for his insensitivity. I believe we could all learn a lot from Andy Rooney. One of the last member of that greatest generation of journalists. I’ll miss Andy–not just for what he said, but for what he represented. I don’t think there will be another one like him.