Morley Safer, one of the industries’ leading voices of investigative journalism, has died at the age of 84. 60 Minutes, the CBS stalwart news programs for nearly 50 years, celebrated Morley’s life and journalistic accomplishments in a length piece just last week, as Morley announced his retirement.
All of the original 60 Minutes contributors are now gone as Harry Reasoner, Mike Wallace, Dan Rather and Ed Bradley, along with producer Don Hewitt, have either died or retired from the news program. Morley didn’t mind getting his hands dirty to get the story, often times traveling to war raved counties to deliver a first-hand report of the battle. As an author, ‘Flashbacks: On Returning to Vietnam’ written by Morley in the early 90s is still considered the quintessential memoir of the Vietnam War.
Morley Safer was born in Toronto in 1931, growing up a newspaper man in the early 50s, joining CBS in its London offices in the mid-60s as a correspondent, joining a new investigative show called 60 Minutes in 1965.
Morley Safer is survived by his wife of many years Jane, and daughter Sarah also a journalist.
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