Death of a newsman

That earring said a lot about Ed Bradley, the CBS news correspondent who died of leukemia Thursday at age 65. Bradley, a Philadelphia-born African-American, followed his love of journalism into what was a mostly white world, but that earring left no doubt that he had changed the world more than it had changed him.

The Bradley bravado was responsible for award-winning journalism over his 43-year reporting career, which began with a radio station in his hometown. After a stint with the CBS-owned radio station in New York, Bradley moved to Paris and got work as a freelancer for CBS television news in 1971.

With the country's attention trained on the war raging in Vietnam, CBS transferred the tall, muscular Bradley to its Saigon bureau where his career took off. His coverage of the war's refugees won Bradley not only professional acclaim but also the hearts of viewers who saw him wade into the water to assist some of the stranded "boat people."

He went on to cover the White House and political conventions. For the past 25 years, Bradley's work has appeared on "60 Minutes," which showcased his skill as an interviewer. There, too, he pursued stories fearlessly, inspiring a new generation of black reporters. Bradley's name was attached to some of the show's most memorable segments, including his exclusive conversation with Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

His last story, interviews with the Duke University lacrosse players facing rape charges, ran on Oct. 15. Even then, friends at CBS were unaware that Bradley was locked in a struggle against leukemia. That private suffering was his final act of bravery in the pursuit of journalism.