It’s been four months since CBS personality , leaving behind a legacy that includes more than three decades of keen observations, incisive commentary and hoots of laughter for millions of dedicated “” viewers.
Starting today, fans of the longtime Rowayton resident's trademark segment that bookended the news program can get a sense the private life that fueled the journalist’s work in an estate sale that runs through Monday.
According to Brewster Jackson, a former managing editor and news executive whose wife owns Elizabeth Jackson Estate Sales, the Norwalk company that’s operating the estate sale, interest is “huge.”
“I think that Rooney struck a chord in people’s lives that began with laughter and humor and ended up with an understanding through laughter and humor of what being human was all about, its foibles and shortcomings,” said Jackson, a former vice president at United Press International and Reuters who also worked as managing editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “And Rooney obviously was able to express things by virtue of using humor in ways that didn’t offend people but certainly struck a chord in their relevance to everyday issues.”
The estate sale runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Monday. Directions here. Elizabeth Jackson Estate Sales’ website describes the Victorian home of the Rooney family for 60 years as “chock full of Americana, modern art and memorabilia from Andy Rooney’s incredible career in journalism and television.”
Items listed include Rooney’s desk chair, World War II memorabilia, prints from Adrian Calder and others, a circa 1930 Tiffany sterling coffeepot, early 19th century cast iron cookie molds, an old New York Giants program and Super Bowl souvenirs.
Rooney died Nov. 4 at age 92 from complications following minor surgery. He launched his “60 Minutes” commentaries in 1978, railing about how unpleasant air travel had become.
“Let's make a statement to the airlines just to get their attention. We'll pick a week next year and we'll all agree not to go anywhere for seven days," he told viewers.
Here’s what Jeff Fager of New Canaan, chairman of CBS News and the executive producer of "60 Minutes,” told Patch after Rooney’s passing: “It's a sad day at '60 Minutes' and for everybody here at CBS News. It's hard to imagine not having Andy around. He loved his life and he lived it on his own terms. We will miss him very much."
Asked whether the estate offers a glimpse into Rooney’s life beyond what viewers saw on TV, Jackson replied said that he left behind evidence of prolific writing, including “his correspondence with cohorts, collections of books and the types of things he read.”
“The text he highlighted in books,” Jackson said. “What his interests were, how he worked, how he revered certain types of typewriters such as Underwood. How he had a love of wood. He collected very exotic woods and made very fine wood bowls and furniture out of these woods, so he was very skilled with his hands. And he loved humor. He has many books on humor—many books on man’s approach to life through humor.”
