(May 29, 1941 – February 11, 2015)
Robert David “Bob” Simon was an American television correspondent for CBS News. During his career, he covered crises, war, and unrest in sixty-seven countries. Simon reported the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam, the Yom Kippur War in in 1973, and the student protests in China’s Tiananmen Square in 1989. During the Persian Gulf War in 1991, he and four of his TV crew were captured and imprisoned by Iraq for forty days, about which experience he wrote a book, Forty Days.
He became a regular correspondent for CBS’s 60 Minutes in 1996 and, in 1999, for 60 Minutes II. At the time of his death in an auto accident, he served as 60 Minutes senior foreign correspondent. Recognized as one of the few journalists who have covered most of the major overseas conflicts since 1969, he has received numerous awards during his career, including the Overseas Press Club awards and 27 Emmy Awards for journalism.
On February 11, 2015, Simon was killed in a car accident in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Simon is survived by his wife, Françoise, and their daughter, Tanya, who is a producer for 60 Minutes.
