The icon of a Newsman, Walter Cronkite died today at age 92.
Wow---we all grew up with Walter Cronkite delivering our daily news for years with that tonal quality that he had. I remember when he announced to the world that President Kennedy was dead. This was during the days when we only had three networks, channel 4, 5 and 7.
I also remember someone asked Cronkite once after he did so many interviews with well known people, who did he enjoy meeting the most for the first time and he said "my wife". He was married for nearly 60 years. He had my heart with that answer!
Sad for our country, we will never see the like of him again. Cronkite leaves an enormous legacy. He was a man in a powerful position in the anchorman chair!
Cronkite, known for his gravelly voice and tell-it-like-it-is reporting, anchored CBS nightly newscast for 19 years, signing off each broadcast with his now-famous catchphrase, "And that's the way it is" He was the voice America turned to for reports on some of the nation's most memorable moments, including the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., the Apollo 11 moon landing, the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal.
“And that’s the way it was". God Bless and keep you Mr. Cronkite.
Rose
In addition to my entry, Rich sent this photo this morning of Walter Cronkite which I decided to include in the same post:
Rose, not well known but in the early 1950s, Walter Cronkite lent his support to the work of the Radios. Cronkite narrated Towers of Truth, a film about RFE's work commissioned by the National Committee for a Free Europe and shown in conjunction with Crusade for Freedom fund raising efforts. By the way, from someone who knows: the microphone was a fake, probably made out of wood. Rich
In the News Today!
ReplyDeleteWe lost an Icon...Walter Cronkite.
Hugs, Rose
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K8Q3cqGs7I
ReplyDeletehas the Walter Cronkite television broadcast announcing the death of JFK. I was in the Salem State College cafeteria, when the news came in. Still ingrained in my mind, guess it always will be. Richanon
The thing I respected most about Cronkite was that he reported the news, he, himself, was not the news.He dug for a way to be our eyes and ears and report it back to us. For what ever reason we knew we could trust his reports.
ReplyDeleteHi Rich,
ReplyDeleteI, too, was at Salem State when I heard the news of President Kennedy's death and will never forget the moment. I was engaged in a discussion with one of the Deans in his office in the Library , when we were suddenly interrupted by a blaring broadcast over the PA system. We were both startled and confused, until we realized what had occurred, and then we were devastated. Someone in the main office heard the radio report and was savvy enough to transmit it instantaneously through out the college. I remember the great sadness that we all felt. Everyone was crying and disbelief and fear gripped everyone from students, to professors. I will never, ever forget the moment.
Joanne McC
I was working in Boston when we
ReplyDeleteheard the broadcast from Walter Cronkite announcing JFK death. I
will never forget that day, all the businesses in Boston let everyone out early because they were afraid of trouble on the MBTA trains. I'm happy to say we were all fine.
Janice
I just saw (on CBS Sunday Morning) during an homage to Walter Cronkite, a clip from July l969, when we landed men on the moon, and it showed alter Cronkite, on the air, absolutely beaming. . . he was ecstatic. According to the news anchor, Cronkite was completely enamored of the whole Space Program, NASA, and anything "astronautic" (and would have been an astronaut if he could).
ReplyDeleteI recall being in France on that day in July, 1969, and mindlessly walking down a street by myself, not really aware of anything except, perhaps, what lovely place to visit next, when I bumped into a crowd milling around a storefront. I was able to edge my way to the front to see what was going on. . . and there, in the store window, were a bank of TVs (it was a television store, duh) and on each screen was the image of our astronauts landing on the moon! I saw the American flag . . . I said something out loud, gasping, and the people around me started to cheer and say things like . . . "America, America,. . . fantastic. . ." and other such expressions of awe and wonder and admiration at such an achievement. . . of praise about our country, etc. Man, I felt so proud! I have chills now remembering that brief moment. I was just another American tourist in France at that moment and yet, because of this extraordinary event, the USA was being cheered and adored by everyone around me, making me, an American, feel so proud and, yes, tearful. What a thrill. And Walter Cronkite was the face that came up next. . . so he'll always define that special moment.
Meri, I agree, Walter Cronkite had a part in helping us to understand so much of what was going on in the world. He did this with such dignity. When ever we recall these signigiant events, he is a part of our recolectons. He delivered it to us every ounce of sincerity and dignity.
ReplyDelete