Frumpy, cantankerous, and wry. A personal hero. Rooney’s reluctant brilliance and hand-chiseled rants first made me think about the words they used on TV. His were always sharp – whether he was railing against long-held dogma or opining on the pleasure of a pencil. War Correspondent, essayist, loveable curmudgeon; Andy Rooney lived a life that cannot be repeated. That a creature as he succeeded in television its a testament to the medium’s early promise. He’d have an eve harder time today, when the vacuous and statuesque are spoon fed their rejoinders by an army of feckless scribes. Still, his legacy lives within the hearts of millions who savored his weekly missives, if most especially, me. My fourteen year old daughter  knows who Andy Rooney is. I’m proud of that. Thank you, Sir, for showing me how it’s done.