, a long-time resident of who still had a home there, died on Friday in a New York City hospital from complications following minor surgery. He was 92.
Rooney was a staple of capping the show off with his brilliant and often funny commentary about the little things in life that we sometimes make a big deal of, and the big things in the world that are sometimes really small.
Rooney, who began his "60 Minutes" commentaries in 1978, railed about how unpleasant air travel had become. "Let's make a statement to the airlines just to get their attention. We'll pick a week next year and we'll all agree not to go anywhere for seven days," he told viewers.
October 2, 2011, after his 1,097th essay, Rooney announced that he would no longer appear regularly on the show. It was a significant loss to a show that he started on in the 1970's, and a devastating one to the people who knew him.
"It's a sad day at '60 Minutes' and for everybody here at CBS News," said Jeff Fager, a New Canaan resident and chairman of CBS News and the executive producer of "60 Minutes." "It's hard to imagine not having Andy around. He loved his life and he lived it on his own terms. We will miss him very much."
