Tue 28 Jul 2009
Just as we baby-boomers were getting used to life without such icons as Ed McMahon, Farrah Faucett and Michael Jackson, news came Saturday, July 18, 2009, of the passing of 92 year old Walter Cronkite, the greatest newsman to have ever lived.
Not many people know that Walter also called Oklahoma football for WKY radio in 1937.
Cronkite, just 21 when he worked for the Oklahoma City radio station, later recounted that his early work on the broadcasts lacked solid preparation and knowledge. I wish there were some recordings of those old games, so we could hear it for ourselves, because he obviously fixed those problems throughout his career.
For those of us who grew up watching Walter Cronkite, a part of our childhood has now passed with him. He was the one who told us when JFK was assasinated. He was the one who thrilled with us when we first landed on the moon. He was the one who told us about countless soldiers who died in Vietnam. And he was the one who taught us history, through his wonderful “You Were There” programs.
Even though our political leanings differed, I always had great respect for Cronkite as a journalist. He was always thorough and told the news without bias, something not seen by most anchors today. And speaking of anchors — Walter Cronkite was the first newsman to ever be called an anchorman. As a matter of fact, he came so identified in that role that eventually his own name became the term for the job in other languages (Swedish anchors are known as Kronkiters; in Holland, they are Cronkiters).
Because of his non-biased presentation of the news, Cronkite was voted the most trusted man in America, a title he richly deserved. I’ve missed his newscasts since he retired, but I miss him more today. There will never be another like him.
Stumble It!