We'll Miss You, Andy Rooney

'60 Minutes' icon deserves his icon status: Matt Zoller Seitz
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 28, 2011 11:53 AM CDT
We'll Miss You, Andy Rooney
A 2005 file photo of Andy Rooney.   (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, file)

Andy Rooney is signing off 60 Minutes this Sunday, and Salon critic Matt Zoller Seitz is sorry to see him go. "Granted, the perception of the CBS pundit as a gasbag who overstayed his welcome isn't unearned," writes Seitz. But Rooney is perhaps "one of the realest Americans on primetime TV." It's easy to take him for granted because he made his TV gigs look easy, but that was part of his art. And let's not forget he was a terrific writer of often "poignant or provocative" columns.

In fact, Rooney became the icon he is through his ability to express himself in clear, concise language. "Reasonable people may disagree on whether Andy Rooney was funny, or whether he should have stayed on 60 Minutes for as long as he did," writes Seitz. But the 92-year-old "is a fine writer of a sort that is gradually disappearing along with his generation. His personality provoked debate. His talent demands respect." Read the full column here. (More Andy Rooney stories.)

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