The 75 year news legend, Hal Fishman passed away on Tuesday, 3 a.m., in less than a week after colon cancer was his diagnosis.  Fishman had been in hospital with a serious bacterial infection and that was the moment the doctors discovered the cancer, too.

He received recently the title of the world's longest-running television newscaster, inducted in the Guinness World Records for working no less than 47 years in the news department.  He'd wake up with the news; he went to sleep with the news; the news was his life," said Jeff Wald, Fishman's longtime friend and news director. "He took it very seriously because he felt that imparting the news to the public is one of most important things you could possibly do."

His television career started while he was an assistant professor of political science at California State University, when he received the offer of giving a lecture on American political parties on air, having a large success. Having to choose between university and television, he chose the latter, "I said to myself, `You can reach more people in one broadcast than you can teach in a lifetime,"' Fishman recalled.

In the following years he proved his impressive professionalism, always detaching from the teleprompter .

He covered essential events in the world’s history, like the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, the September 2001 terrorist attacks and many others.

He received recognition for his professionalism proven all over the years: Governor's Award from the Los Angeles chapter of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, an Outstanding Broadcast Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, two Peabody Awards, an Emmy, plus a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992.

"While he won many awards in his tenure as anchor, perhaps most importantly he won the respect and trust of news viewers throughout California, many of whom followed him through his prestigious 47-year career. Hal will forever remain an icon in California history.", California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said.

Hal’s achievements don’t stop in television: he was a veteran pilot and held 13 world aviation records for speed and altitude; he also co-wrote two novels with his pilot friend,  Barry Schiff: "Flight 902 Is Down" and "Vatican Target."

He is survived his wife Nolie and son David. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the American Cancer Society Colon Cancer Research and Education.