WALTER CRONKITE

We've lost a good man and a good journalist -- the man whose voice used to be as familiar, and welcome, as any in America; the man most of us were listening to 40 years ago when the Apollo 11 crew made its still-astonishing voyage to the Moon and back. I got to meet Walter Cronkite in 2005, when I was honored to receive the award named for him from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. We spent some time together before the luncheon, and although his health had obviously deteriorated, he was quick, funny, gracious and self-effacing. We talked about a lot of things, but above all about sailing, which was his passion. Bon voyage, Mr. Cronkite.  

Comments

[Annie Where-but-here]

Well put, Dave. I remember him for what he didn't say, how he projected heartfelt emotion, anger, and enthusiasm in his pauses. A class act all the way, eloquent, intelligent and unafraid to voice his always spot-on opinion.

Godspeed.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Amen.

What I remember most:

November 22, 1963
The Moon Landing and his almost childish glee
His commentary about Vietnam

[Siouxie]

Well said, Dave. He was the ultimate true journalist. RIP, uncle Walter.

[Margaritaville]

Very sad. He seemed like a true gentleman.

[Texgal]

Cronkite was the role model that all the TV news wannabes try to copy -- but fail miserably in their efforts.

He will be greatly missed by all who had the opportunity to watch the master perform his craft to perfection.

[nursecindy]

There will never be another Walter Cronkite. And "That's the way it is."

[diverdowndoc]

My favorite anecdote: Towards the end of his time as anchor, his time away from the anchor desk became longer and longer, and the fill-in would inform the viewing public that he was on assignment. Cronkite's sailboat was named "Assignment".

[Siouxie]

LOL ddd! That's classic!!

(btw, got my nails did this morning and getting my hair did later!)

(inside joke)

[Siouxie]

They interviewed Barbara Walters last night and she also spoke of his passion for sailing.

[Annie Where-but-here]

That's perfect, ddd. Like the bar near college that was named "The Library."

[frodolives]

Amen to Annie's "Godspeed"... And yep, for any of the rest of the geezers, I remember my three sibs and I sitting on the floor in a semi-circle, my mom on the couch behind, and my dad taking pics of the TV (this WAS after all, pre-VCR) as we watched the Apollo 11 landing with Walter commenting.

[Siouxie]

frodo, I also remember taking a photo of that. I was butt a wee child and didn't realize all I'd get was this photo of a huge blob of light!

[NotSherly]

Goodbye Walter Cronkite.

[Annie Where-but-here]

I think I was in school listening to the lunar landing on the PA system.

One of my first memories was of Cronkite's reaction to JFK being shot.

[frodolives]

Sio, that's how dad's pics came out, but even then, they were precious- what an historical event, and what a great guy to be there to report it!!!

[PirateBoy]

We will miss you, Uncle Walter.

[christine]

Yes, I remember sitting around the TV with family, aunt, uncle and cousins for the Lunar landing. Cronkite was a class act and a gentleman. The only newscaster I like now is Brian Williams. He's thoughtful and gracious like Walter Cronkite.

[frodolives]

Psssttt to Annie- you're right, it wasn't the lunar landing I was speaking about, but the EVA...

Folks pulled us out of bed, because it happened pretty late, so we kids were all in our 'jams... May Walter take that "One giant leap"...

[PeterM]

One of his causes later in life was tolerance

[Sue Green]

I met Walter Cronkite at that same luncheon the year after you did, Dave. Take a look at my blog post... you'll recognize the photo. Nice memory, Dave.

Walter Cronkite really was the second most important man in my life.

Both he and my father gave me a passion for journalism. And Mr. Cronkite welcomed me in to teach at the school named after him.
We met soon after I was hired at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at ASU.

He said he had heard about me joining the staff, and was excited that I would be able to share my knowledge with the students. He said just teach them well, and I have taken that to heart.

[Diva]

He will always be The Most Trusted Man in America to me, and that's the way it is. May this assignment be your grandest yet. *sniff*

[Steve]

I remember Walter Cronkite giving the news about JFK. He had more calming authority than any of the government officials I recall talking about the events. It was like his speech created its own truth.

[insomniac]

i remember the 'you are there' programs , they would take some historical event and 'cover' it like a newscast... i can't imagine the level of professionalism it took to interview with a straight face a guy dressed up like eli whitney...

"and how will your new 'cotton gin' affect the south, mr. whitney?"

"i think it will help perpetuate slavery, and in time lead to a civil war, walter."

"prescient words. and that's the way it was..."

[Horace LaBadie]

I recall Walter as the host of "You Are There," in which historical events were recreated and covered as if modern TV journalists had been present. I also remember him as the narrator of "The 20th Century." That was how I knew him when he took over the CBS Evening News from Douglas Edwards, who had been the first network anchor. Walter took the show and gave it a shape and quality that set the standard for TV news. It's almost as if The News has died.

[Suzy Q]

Good night, Walter.

[Clankazoid]

The networks need to take a look at their news. Too many commercials. Too many long-winded questions from anchors who like to hear their own voices. Too much giggly banter. Too many fluff stories.

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

That was wonderful, Ms Green. Thank you.

[Diva]

Horace, it did.

[fivver]

Not just the moon landing, but I remember Walter covering the first, unmanned, launch of the Saturn V. The press were all complaining about not being allowed closer to the pad than 3 1/2 miles and when the rocket lifted off you could hear Walter panicing, 'There's plaster falling from the ceiling! I'm having to hold the window in the booth to keep it from shattering!' Later he said they needed a bunker, not a booth. God Bless Walter.

[Chet Huntley & David Brinkley]

Good night, Mr. Cronkite. You were the best.

Good night, Mr. Cronkite. You set the bar.

[Mr. Mx]

Traitor to his nation. Good riddance.

[nursecindy]

Since Siouxie is not here I will do this for her.
Mr. Mx--------------------------> Door.

[Doc Rick]

While I might not have agreed about his choice in politics over the years, I do respect that the man was one of the most important voices in the United States during the 20th Century. He was the last of the network TV news anchors whose oppinions made a difference. God speed Walter.

[Just Ducky]

Farewell, Mr. Cronkite. I wish you fair winds and following seas.

[Elon]

He was a cool guy And while my generation was not actually privileged to have him as new announcer, I have heard the tales of the power of his coverage.

[Steve Dutch]

I second everything above. I remember "You Are There," 11-22-63 and Apollo 11. I don't recall the first Saturn V launch, but to get an idea what it was like, visit the Kennedy Space Center and take in the Apollo 8 recreation. Awesome, and it will rattle your fillings.

We will miss you.

[Ralph]

We have replaced Walter Cronkite with Twitter. This is progress?

[queensbee]

there's nobody, nobody out there like cronkite. current 'anchors' do not hold a candle. he was one of a kind. the pundits the other nite all talked about how he led the way - but none of these people was courageous enough to follow. in his memory - lets move the fourth estate forward to make and take a real stand. it does make a difference.

[Jeff Meyerson]

We have replaced Walter Cronkite with Twitter. This is progress?

Posted by: Ralph | July 18, 2009 at 11:50 PM

Hey, who called me Twitter?

Also, through the sailing Walter became buddies with Jimmy Buffett, who was at his surprise 90th birthday party a couple of years ago. So yes, as Elon said, a cool guy.

And that's the way it was.

[Bill S]

Cronkite's lies about the US losing the Vietnam war helped the antiwar movement. That led to Communist
victories in southeast Asia that also led to the murder at least a million people there. Cronkite wasn't a hero. The blood of a million people is on his hands.

[Bill S]

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=104399

Meet the real Walter Cronkite
'Most trusted' newsman pushed radical agenda

In 1999, he appeared at the United Nations to accept the Norman Cousins Global Governance Award from the World Federalists Association. He told those assembled, including Hillary Rodham Clinton, that the first step toward achieving a one-world government – his personal dream – is to strengthen the United Nations.

"It seems to many of us that if we are to avoid the eventual catastrophic world conflict we must strengthen the United Nations as a first step toward a world government patterned after our own government with a legislature, executive and judiciary, and police to enforce its international laws and keep the peace," he said. "To do that, of course, we Americans will have to yield up some of our sovereignty. That would be a bitter pill. It would take a lot of courage, a lot of faith in the new order."

In his acceptance speech, Cronkite added, "Pat Robertson has written in a book a few years ago that we should have a world government, but only when the Messiah arrives. He wrote, literally, any attempt to achieve world order before that time must be the work of the devil. Well, join me. I'm glad to sit here at the right hand of Satan."

[Mac Crary]

The death of Walter Cronkite saddened me. When I was very young, my wisened midwestern grandfather Ward was a newspaperman and Mr. Cronkite seemed to me to be part of the whole world that my grandfather had brought me up in with his loving, wry presence. Granddad was at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in those days. Both Granddad and Mr. Cronkite were humorous men but with dignity that seemed to keep them just a little removed from the fun. They were in that way professionals. It seemed to me at the very young age when my home just glowed with these two men, when John Kennedy was still alive, that everywhere, especially America, was made up of wise white elders in the newspaper business.

Once when I told my mother Nancy, Ward's daughter, that Granddad looked like Walter Cronkite, she laughed and said, "You mean they're both from the same racial stock?" I guess for some people all white dignified newspapermen look alike. Mom was always very careful to make sure I understood it's very important not to form role models based on appearances, but on the content of your model's character. She loved her father dearly for his compassion. He taught her well. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently published a letter from Nancy describing the time when she was small and told her poverty-stricken Missouri classmates at school that she would be unafraid to share a bed with a negro, back in the days when Jackie Robinson was fighting for his place in the Major Leagues. Ward once told me, "If I could strike one thing from the consciousness of the human race it would be the prejudice caused by racism". In a family like that having Walter Cronkite talk the news was heart-warming as can be. For those who didn't have such homes, Mr. Cronkite no doubt brought sense and sensibility that could shore up their lives.

One of the most important decisions Mr. Cronkite made in his career was to go to Saigon for himself during the fighting. While he was there he made a very beleaguered, special, and to Americans frightening and sad revelation. He could not credit the barbarity, he could not find a motive, he could not find an explanation, and he made his earnest unhappiness with what he had learned known, conveying a sense that Lyndon Johnson was not stable of mind. It was uncomfortable for Mr. Cronkite to temporarily abandon his objectivity and he seldom spoke of it afterwards.

When Dan Rather first took over for Mr. Cronkite, I didn't want to watch the news anymore, at first. Over time, Mr. Rather came to mean the same thing to me. I guess that's what taking your knocks is all about. Indeed, after recovering my senses from a long, unusual estrangement I saw Dan Rather on TV and burst into tears. When I read an article by Mr. Cronkite in passing, I was so happy to see he was still alive and his mind still such gold. Of course, more recently, I heard he was very ill.

For those who have seen the film JFK of course the memory is jogged by the other moment in history when Mr. Cronkite temporarily lost his impartiality. When I studied really deeply into the death of John Kennedy I made it a point to read Vince Lombardi's account. He was the manager of the Green Bay Packers, you might know. Someone asked him what did he do when he heard that John Kennedy died. He said, "I went to church". So I went to church.