60 Minutes icon tells Dr. Bird's story today

When the familiar 60 Minutes stopwatch fills the TV screens in millions of homes tonight it will just be another day at the office for correspondent Morley Safer.

Safer, 76, has been cranking out stories for this venerable TV show for more than 37 years. He has more Emmys (12) than most people have had cars.

He and a small platoon of photographers, sound engineers, directors and producers visited Dr. Forrest Bird's home in May to produce a story relaying Bird's tremendous contributions to medicine and aviation.

"This was an easy story for us to choose," Safer said in an interview in May following a day of interviews with Dr. Bird and his wife, Pam.

A viewer gave Safer the tip.

"I received a letter from a viewer, saying in just a few lines that this man might be worth considering. I passed it along to (producer) David Browning in California, he jumped on a plane to Spokane, drove to Sandpoint, met Dr. Bird, was hooked and proceeded to hook the rest of us."

Safer was immediately taken with Dr. Bird. They both share a great love for aviation.

"Without his inventions, we have no story, so the report we made (for Sunday), while not a scientific treatise, goes into some detail on the importance of Forrest Bird as a scientist. At the same time, the story reveals, I think, that remarkable quality that all great scientists-inventors-tinkerers have. They don't see problems. They see solutions."

Bird is known for perfecting a reliable respirator as well as inventing the "Baby Bird" respirator for children.

He is a member of the Inventors Hall of Fame and has received numerous accolades in aviation and medicine.

His company, Percussionaire, has been located at Glengary Bay since the 1960s.

While Safer loved "the wilderness" in and around Sandpoint, he has no intention of moving here.

"Sandpoint ranks high on my list of magical places in the natural world," he said. "But at this point in my life the child conquers the man and I am a child of the big city with all of its noisy, polluted magnificence. But a month or so in the wilderness is not without question."

Safer, who stayed with the Birds during the two days of shooting, was impressed with the couples' hospitality and Forrest Birds' energy.

"He is simply amazing on so many levels," Safer said.

For a correspondent who cast the first bleak report on the Vietnam War in 1965, he just shakes his head a the Iraq War and this country's involvement in Iraq.

"This president will be in the scrap-heap of history for his lack of respect and insulting the intelligence of US citizens," he said.

He also predicted that then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would be ushered out of office. That happened a few months after Safer's prediction.

Safer also said he is embarrassed by what is on television. As he had his hand on a remote-control device at Bird's house and was flipping through channels, he just shook his head at what was on FOX, MSNBC and finally settled down to watch CNN.

The clock is still ticking on Safer's career and he has no plans to slow down or to retire.

"There are a lot of stories still to tell," he said.