Don Hewitt Battles Cancer

(CBS/AP)  Don Hewitt, the legendary mastermind of CBS News'"60 Minutes," is battling pancreatic cancer.

"60 Minutes"spokesman Kevin Tedesco says the 86-year-old Hewitt has been diagnosed with a small, contained tumor. Doctors will evaluate the cancer to determine a course of treatment.

Hewitt was already a veteran CBS newsman in 1968 when he created "60 Minutes," pioneering the TV newsmagazine format. He served as executive producer of the program until his retirement in 2004.

Hewitt has been honored with the second annual Lifetime Achievement Emmy presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In 1995, he was awarded the Founders Emmy by the International Council of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

He's also won the Director's Guild Association Honor for contributions to American culture (June 2002), the 2001 Carr Van Anda Award for his contribution to journalism, bestowed by the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, and the 2000 Fred Friendly First Amendment Award from Quinnipiac College.

Hewitt is the author of Tell Me a Story: Fifty Years and 60 Minutes in Television (PublicAffairs, April 2001), in which chronicles his life as a newsman. He is also the author of the book Minute by Minute (Random House, 1985).