I shall have a hard time writing this, for I must stop to wipe away the tears I cannot seem to stop. This afternoon a heard a few words on the early news program that caused me to stop in disbelief, then realize what I heard... Bob Simon is dead... a senseless death... killed in a cab that had rear-ended the car in front of it. In my first moment of shock I thought, no it can't be. That wonderful man, who had been captured in Iraq and come out of that incident alive, had been killed by a bad driver. I do not know what to think. I have admired and loved this man for years... he seemed to me the last of the great reporters of the sort of Eric Sevareid... the kind who actually go gather the news then present it in a great and honest fashion -- not like the men and women who simply read other's news stories, sometimes embroidered to make them more exciting, on the TV. He was my favorite on 60 Minutes, with the most interesting stories, for he seemed to do the kinds of stories I would have loved going on... stories he obviously chose himself and loved doing. There are none like him anymore, nor will there be. He was one of a kind and one of the best. A man of intellect with a good heart.
When he was captured by the Iraqi years back, I, an unbeliever, actually prayed for him to be released and even wrote to his family to tell them that I did, and was sure that he would be returned to them. What a relief when he was. Now, I shall not pray for him (for I have the feeling he thought rather as I do about other's gods) but for them once more, for they have lost a magnificent husband and father, as life is hard without those you love around you. The world has lost a wonderful man and will miss Bob Simon, as shall I. His death will mark the death of real reporting on television. The world will be smaller and a lot more boring with his passing. Goodbye Bob... bless you, dear man.
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