‘60 minutes’ correspondent Bob Simon killed in car crash

Veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon, who covered riots, Oscar-nominated movies and wars and was held captive for more than a month in Iraq two decades ago, was killed in a car crash. He was 73.

A limousine in which Simon was a passenger hit another car in Manhattan on Wednesday, police said. Simon and the town car’s driver were taken to a hospital, where Simon was pronounced dead.

Simon was among a handful of elite journalists to cover most major overseas conflicts and news stories since the late 1960s, CBS said. He covered stories including the Vietnam war and the Oscar-nominated movie Selma in a career spanning five decades.

He had been contributing to 60 Minutes on a regular basis since 1996. He also was a correspondent for 60 Minutes II.

Anderson Cooper, who does occasional stories for 60 Minutes, was near tears talking about Simon’s death. He said that when Simon presented a story “you knew it was going to be something special.”

“I dreamed of being, and still hope to be, a quarter of the writer that Bob Simon is and has been,” the CNN anchor said. “Bob Simon was a legend, in my opinion. He was someone I was intimidated by.”