A Colorful Person: Andy Rooney

Old Whatshisname: that cranky guy.

I am starting a new monthly feature similar to Fresh Quotes. I will be publishing this right in the middle of each month and I thought The Ides of March would be the perfect time to introduce it.  I am calling it A Colorful Person for now. If I come up with a better name, which I hope I will, I will change it. Ideas anyone?  Every month I will feature a different person. Someone who has made the world a bit more colorful. Someone who I personally admire. Some of these people will be quite obvious, others not so much. Every one of them will be people who have shaped my thinking and helped make me the me I am today. (So you’ll know who to blame. haha)

This month’s Colorful Person is Andy Rooney; the cranky old guy who was a fixture on the TV show 60 Minutes for what seemed like 60 years. He passed away at the end of 2011 at the ripe old age of 92 and I miss him terribly especially on Sunday evenings.

He was at heart a writer who said what he meant and he meant what he said. I started watching his stories on 60 minutes as a child and I continued watching until his last in October of 2011. He was an influence on me as a writer and as a person. He was the cranky Grandfather I never had.  He had tons of common sense and I’d like to share some of his plain talk wisdom with you today.

~SBI

…..and so, Here’s Andy…

Say What?

“If dogs could talk it would take a lot of the fun out of owning one.”

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Credit: Scubamom

“I’ve  learned ….  That opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.”

Credit: Public Domain

“People will generally accept facts as truth only if the facts agree with what they already believe.” 

Credit: Public Domain

“I’ve learned that no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.” 

“Did you ever hear one of those corny, positive messages on someone’s answering machine? ‘Hi, it’s a great day and I’m out enjoying it right now. I hope you are too. The thought for the day is share the love. Beep.’ ‘Uh, yeah, this is the VD clinic… speaking of being positive, your test is back. Stop sharing the love.”
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Credit: Public Domain

“Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it’s not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress. Ladies, I apologize. For all those men who say, “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?”, here’s an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it’s not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!”
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Credit: Public Domain

“The best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.”
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“Writers don’t often say anything that readers don’t already know, unless its a news story. A writer’s greatest pleasure is revealing to people things they knew but did not know they knew. Or did not realize everyone else knew, too. This produces a warm sense of fellow feeling and is the best a writer can do.”

*All of the above quotes are credited to Andy Rooney

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Andy Rooney was born on January 14, 1919, in Albany, New York. During WWII, he wrote for the Army’s Stars and Stripes newspaper and was one of the first American journalists to visit and write about the German concentration camps. Rooney joined the staff of CBS’ 60 Minutes in 1968 and began his iconic “A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney” segment in 1978. Rooney’s final 60 Minutes essay aired in October, 2011. He died a month later at age 92.

Credit: Biography.com

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Andy Rooney: My Lucky Life ( His last one) (youtube.com)

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Andy Rooney Dead at 92 60 Minutes Commentator Dies (binsidetv.net)