Longtime CBS journalist Maria Mercader died Sunday from the coronavirus, CBS Evening News announced.
Mercader, 54, died during a ny hospital, consistent with CBS. She had been on medical leave for an unrelated matter since February.
“Even quite her talents as a journalist, we’ll miss her indomitable spirit,” CBS News president and senior executive producer Susan Zirinsky said within the network’s tweet. “Maria was a part of all of our lives.”
Mercader had fought cancer and related illnesses for quite 20 years, consistent with CBS.
Mercader started at CBS News in 1987 as a part of the CBS Page Program, and throughout her career worked on the CBS News foreign and national desks.
“Maria was a lover to all or any ,” Laurie Orlando, CBS News SVP of talent, told CBS News. “It’s nearly impossible to be someone EVERYONE loves, but Maria was. She always had a warm hug, a word of recommendation or support and an enormous smile for everybody in her life. She was a bright light and can be sorely missed.”
Journalists also tweeted in memory of their veteran colleague.
“A paragon of grit and beauty , she embodied the simplest of the @CBSNews mission,” Dan Rather tweeted about Mercader. “Millions of usa citizens learned of the planet through her efforts. Now our world is a smaller amount together with her loss. RIP.”