Breaking News - Former Sen. Paul Simon dies

[GalvestonDuck]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,105280,00.html

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Paul Simon, the former U.S. senator and presidential candidate, died Tuesday, a day after undergoing heart surgery. He was 75.

Simon's daughter confirmed his death at St. John's Hospital in Springfield, according to Peter Alexander, the law school dean at Southern Illinois University, where Simon started a public policy institute after his retirement.

A spokeswoman at SIU also confirmed Simon's death.

Simon had a single bypass and heart valve surgery at the hospital's Prairie Heart Institute Monday.

The Southern Illinois Democrat's political career began with his election to the state Legislature in 1954 and culminated with his election to the U.S. Senate in 1984. He retired from Congress in 1997.