A Bit of Bad News

Ed Bradley has died. Leukemia. 65 years old.

He represented the first of the "young blood" on 60 Minutes. I was beginning to believe that none of those people would ever die. But I least suspected that the first to go would be Bradley. I know that Harry Reasoner was actually the "first" to go in 1991, and Eric Sevareid, who was the first one to offer end of show commentary followed in 1992. It seems to me like they died earlier than that, but the d-o-ds are as reported by Wikipedia. Also, Shana Alexander who took the liberal arguments in the "Point-Counterpoint" segment against James K. Kilpatrick, who took the conservative side, died last year. But when you realize Mike Wallace and Andy Rooney are octogenerians, Dan Rather and Morley Safer are in their mid 70s, you wouldn't have expected Bradley to precede them in death at age 65. He always seemed rather ageless and robust, but Leukemia takes its toll. It's true, I had not seen him on the show in recent weeks, but as they tend to rotate in and out, and I hadn't really watched it every week, it never occured to me that anything was amiss. A story concerning Bradley on the news earlier this evening indicated that he worked up till the end.

He was a good newsperson. He was sharp and insightful. He was a professional in every way. He will be missed.

TLS