Over the years, Rooney's crotchety broadcasts which close "60 Minutes" each week, and his other bully pulpit, his twice-a-week column for the Tribune Media Services, have made Rooney a constant in the popular culture of an older generation. With beetled brow, hangdog expression, sardonically droning his quips and cracker-barrel philosophy, Rooney is in many ways presented as a Will Rogers for the TV age. Unlike Rogers, though, who "never met a man he didn't like", Rooney has aroused the ire of minorities including African-Americans and gays and lesbians with his off-the-cuff remarks. At one point the furor even kept him off the air for a period of several months. Rooney's often amusing brand of sour humor on the topic of current events and his opining about the minutiae of daily life, though, has captivated many readers as well as his loyal TV watchers, with his 1981 book "A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney" which reached best-sellerdom.