Tributes to Bob Simon pouring in

Accolades for legendary CBS News correspondent Bob Simon were plentiful as word of his death spread Wednesday night. He was 73.

Simon died in a car crash in Manhattan.

"Bob Simon was a giant of broadcast journalism, and a dear friend to everyone in the CBS News family. We are all shocked by this tragic, sudden loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bob's extended family and especially with our colleague Tanya Simon," said CBS News President David Rhodes.

"It's a terrible loss for all of us at CBS News," "60 Minutes" Executive Producer Jeff Fager said in a statement. "It is such a tragedy made worse because we lost him in a car accident, a man who has escaped more difficult situations than almost any journalist in modern times.

"Bob was a reporter's reporter. He was driven by a natural curiosity that took him all over the world covering every kind of story imaginable," Fager said. "There is no one else like Bob Simon. All of us at CBS News, and particularly at "60 Minutes," will miss him very much."

Sir Howard Stringer, who was president of CBS from 1988 to 1995, including when Simon was held prisoner during the opening days of the Persian Gulf War in 1991, said Simon was "every inch the network correspondent from the golden age."

"In 1940, Alfred Hitchcock directed an Oscar-nominated film called 'Foreign Correspondent.' If the timeline had not been so premature, Hitchcock might have been thinking of Bob Simon instead of Joel McCrea," said Stringer, who was president of CBS News from 1986 to 1988.

"While he didn't start with '60 Minutes,' the broadcast could have been invented for him," Stringer said in a statement. "He reported from all the hot spots: Vietnam, Northern Island, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Lebanon and Israel. He went willingly to all the sharp ends of a compass. He wrote as well as he reported with flair and finesse, livened by wit as well as wisdom.

"The wizards of technology are busily demonstrating the advantages of 3-D printing. Would that they could print another Bob Simon, he would be welcomed back by all who care about real journalism," said Stringer. "He is really going to be missed."

The tributes spread far beyond CBS News.

Anderson Cooper, who does occasional stories for "60 Minutes," was near tears talking about Simon on CNN.

Twitter was awash in tributes, including one from Cooper:

Among many, many other tweets:

• Scott Pelley's special report on the death of Bob Simon