Andy Rooney Is Honored

(CBS)  Andy Rooney, longtime 60 Minutes commentator and Tribune Media newspaper columnist, will receive the Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists on Friday, June 20.

The award will be presented by NSNC president and Herald-Times columnist, Mike Leonard.

As war correspondents in World War II, Rooney and Pyle were two journalists on a similar mission, celebrating the lives of ordinary people. Before being killed by a sniper's bullet, Pyle wrote about the war through the eyes of the common soldier. In a similar way, Rooney's commentaries on 60 Minutes and his weekly Tribune columns, while reporting the news, often make time to discuss the seemingly mundane aspects of life and people.

"Ernie Pyle's life and work eloquently captured the hopes and aspirations of the common man," said Leonard, "something that goes to the heart of our society's mission. Andy Rooney's work is in that same fine tradition."

Other recipients of the Ernie Pyle award include the Washington Post's Mary McGrory and the late San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen.