Curtis Bill Pepper, Newsweek foreign correspondent, dead at 96

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

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

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.

Pepper 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.

In addition to his wife, Pepper is survived by two children and three grandchildren. -- AP