Curtis Bill Pepper | Reporter, author, 96

Curtis Bill Pepper, 96, a longtime foreign correspondent for Newsweek and author of eight books, has died in Italy.

Mr. Pepper's widow, the American sculptor Beverly Pepper, said he died early Friday at home in the Umbrian town of Todi.

Mr. Pepper, known as Bill, was a West Virginia native who came to Italy as a soldier during World War II. He worked for United Press and CBS before becoming Newsweek's Rome bureau chief.

He recently finished his last book, Happiness, a collection of observations from the many notable figures he had interviewed in his career, including Mother Teresa, Marcello Mastroianni, and David Ben-Gurion. It will be published this spring. - AP