( CNN ) -- Award-winning newsman Richard Threlkeld , whose wide-ranging career took him from war zones to presidential campaigns , was killed Friday in a car accident on New York 's Long Island , authorities said . He was 74 . Threlkeld , who worked for CBS and later ABC , died after his 2008 Mini Cooper collided with a tanker truck in Amagansett , East Hampton police said in a statement . The cause of the accident remains under investigation , the statement said . The driver of the tanker , 57-year-old Earl Fryberger Jr. of Coatesville , Pennsylvania , was uninjured , it said . Threlkeld 's career took him from the jungles of Vietnam to the desert of Iraq during the Gulf War , from courtroom trial of Patty Hearst to the execution of Gary Gilmore . Threlkeld joined CBS News in 1966 and jumped to ABC in 1981 . He returned to CBS in 1989 before retiring in 1998 , according to the network . `` We liked him because he was a gentleman . We admired him because of what he could do with words , '' CBS Evening News ' anchor Scott Pelley said during Friday 's broadcast . Pelley described Threlkeld as a `` reporter 's reporter , writing with speed and accuracy , delivering insight on deadline . '' Threlkeld is survived by his wife , Besty Aaron , two children and two grandchildren . Aaron worked as a correspondent for CNN and CBS . CNN 's Leigh Remizowski contributed to this report .
NEW : The cause of the crash is under investigation , the police say . Leigh Remizowski died following a car crash in New York , Amagansett , police say . Threlkeld was a veteran newsman who worked for Threlkeld for 1981 .