In Memoriam - Walter Cronkite

A few years ago I had the great honor to meet Walter Cronkite. He had graciously volunteered to help promote First Freedom First, a special project of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Interfaith Alliance Foundation.

He took part in an event in San Jose, which provided an opportunity for me to also meet my good friend Tengrain from Mock, Paper, Scissors for the first time.

Walter Cronkite was a true journalist -- something desperately needed today.

Walter Cronkite, who pioneered and then mastered the role of television news anchorman with such plain-spoken grace that he was called the most trusted man in America, died Friday, his family said. He was 92. [...]

From 1962 to 1981, Mr. Cronkite was a nightly presence in American homes and always a reassuring one, guiding viewers through national triumphs and tragedies alike, from moonwalks to war, in an era when network news was central to many people’s lives.

He became something of a national institution, with an unflappable delivery, a distinctively avuncular voice and a daily benediction: “And that’s the way it is.” He was Uncle Walter to many: respected, liked and listened to. With his trimmed mustache and calm manner, he even bore a resemblance to another trusted American fixture, another Walter — Walt Disney. [...]

As anchorman and reporter, Mr. Cronkite described wars, natural disasters, nuclear explosions, social upheavals and space flights, from Alan Shepard’s 15-minute ride to lunar landings. On July 20, 1969, when the Eagle touched down on the moon, Mr. Cronkite exclaimed, “Oh, boy!”

On the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Mr. Cronkite briefly lost his composure in announcing that the president had been pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. Taking off his black-framed glasses and blinking back tears, he registered the emotions of millions.

It was an uncharacteristically personal note from a newsman who was uncomfortable expressing opinion.

There will never be another Walter Cronkite -- Uncle Walter to some. As he would so famously say at the end of each broadcast: "And that's the way it is."