Morley Safer dies week after retiring

CBS newsman Morley Safer, the longest-serving “60 Minutes” correspondent, who retired last week, died this week.

Morley Safer

His career was reviewed last Sunday after “60 Minutes”  with “Morley Safer: A Reporter’s Life.”  

Safer’s first season as a “60 Minutes”  correspondent began in 1970. He had done 918 more since in his 50 years with CBS, including more than 40 years in prime time. 

The special traced Safer’s life from his birth in Toronto to his rise in the ‘50s and ‘60s as a war reporter and “60 Minutes” correspondent.

Brig. Gen. Joe Stringham, who commanded a Green Beret unit that Safer accompanied into battle in Vietnam, said Safer “was all business and he reported what he saw … We looked at eternity right in the face a couple times … and he was as cool as a hog on ice.”

Safer could play a mean hand of poker, had artistic talent and loved driving a sports car at top speeds.

Safer was the last link to the original core of "60 Minutes" that included Harry Reasoner, Mike Wallace, Ed Bradley and producer Don Hewitt.