Safer creates artwork for `60 Minutes'

Morley Safer has created a work of art celebrating the 40th anniversary of "60 Minutes."

It will be unveiled at a party Monday. It's the face of a clock (like the famous CBS newsmagazine's stopwatch) etched in marble with "60" at the top and "40" where the "8" would be.

"I wanted it to be something that was kind of ancient but ageless," said the veteran correspondent, who worked on the project for much of the summer at his home in Connecticut. The marble has some chips around the edges - like the show itself - but stands bold and sturdy.

In TV terms, the idea behind "60 Minutes" is ancient, he said. But the show exists today much as it does when Don Hewitt invented it in 1968. Safer joined as a correspondent in 1970.

He frequently does stories about the art world, and walks the walk. During the past two years, he has taken sabbaticals to perfect his own art skills at the American Academy of Rome.

"I learned long ago not to volunteer to do many things but I was touched when ("60 Minutes" Executive Producer Jeff Fager) asked me to do it," Safer said.