NEW YORK, July 23, 2009
Friends, Family Remember Cronkite
In Memorial at Family's Longtime Church, Friends Recall CBS Legend's Work Ethic, Humor, Love of Sailing
-
-
Hundreds attend a memorial service for legendary CBS anchor Walter Cronkite at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York July 23, 2009. (CBS)
-
Friends and family at Cronkite's funeral. (CBS)
-
This undated picture shows Walter Cronkite in Tempe, Ariz. Walter Cronkite, the premier TV anchorman of the networks' golden age who reported a tumultuous time with reassuring authority and came to be called "the most trusted man in America," died Friday, July 17, 2009. He was 92. (AP Photo/Arizona State University)
-
-
Play CBS Video Video Chip Cronkite on His Father Walter Cronkite's son, Chip Cronkite, speaks at his father's funeral in New York City.
-
Video Sanford Socolow on Cronkite The executive producer of "The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite" speaks of his departed longtime colleague and friend, Walter Cronkite.
-
Video Saying Goodbye To Cronkite The world of journalism said "goodbye" to legendary anchor Walter Cronkite at a private funeral service in New York City. Karen Brown reports.
-
Photo Essay Farewell to Walter Cronkite Family, friends and colleagues arrive to say goodbye to "The Most Trusted Man in America"
-
SPECIAL REPORT Walter Cronkite: 1916-2009 Remembering the legendary CBS newsman
- Stories
- Remembering Walter Cronkite
"Walter was such a good friend. I can't get over it," said "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney.
Rooney recalled becoming friends with Cronkite when they were both reporters covering World War II in London. But the normally loquacious Rooney struggled to find words.
"You get to know someone pretty well in a war," he said. "I just feel so terrible about Walter's death that I can hardly say anything. Please excuse me."
Photos: Friends and Colleagues Arrive for Funeral
Photos: Cronkite Laid to Rest
Cronkite died July 17 at his home in New York after a long illness. He was 92.
Known for his steady and straightforward delivery, his trim moustache, and his iconic sign-off line - "That’s the way it is" - Cronkite dominated the television news industry during one of the most volatile periods of American history. During a more than 30-year career at CBS, he broke the news of the Kennedy assassination, reported extensively on Vietnam and Civil Rights and Watergate, and seemed to be the very embodiment of TV journalism.
"He had this reputation for being cool and calm and collected no matter what the circumstances … but that doesn’t do him justice. He was really ferocious at times," said Sanford Socolow, a longtime CBS News executive and executive producer of Cronkite Productions. "He was always a wire service reporter in his heart. And he always lived by the wire service adage … 'Get it first, but get it right.'"
But in addition to remembering Cronkite the journalist, speakers recalled Cronkite's humor and sense of wonderment at the world, his love of sailing, and his willingness to show emotion.
Mike Ashford, a sailing friend, recalled how Cronkite cried, "openly and without shame," when his yellow lab of many years died.
And Cronkite's son, Chip Cronkite, in a speech addressed to his late father, thanked him for "saying to mom as you passed her in the kitchen or the hall, 'Shall we dance?' and then taking her for a few turns around the room."
Socolow said that even as he grew gravely ill, Cronkite reveled in a love of music and relished visits from Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and singer Jimmy Buffett, who delivered an impromptu ukulele performance.
Cronkite, though notoriously demanding in the newsroom, could also be funny and even silly, friends said. Socolow joked about his inability to pronounce the word "February" and an instance in which Cronkite forgot his own name when he signed off at the end of the broadcast.
In other words, it was no coincidence that Cronkite became "the most trusted man in America" - surpassing even the president in a 1972 poll.
"He was always I think the same guy that most of America guessed he was," Ashford said - serious about the news but also almost childishly sincere. "I learned to think and appreciate and observe the world the way Walter did."
A separate memorial will be held within the next few weeks at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Add a Comment See all 18 Comments
- One of those voices and names that will live forever. And not a rock star. R.I.P.
- Reply to this comment
- Yep, he deserved the memorial more than Michael Jackson.
He was very significant because there were so few media choices back when he was anchor of CBS News during the turbulent '60s and '70s. He was the one anchor who could explain the world to you every night and actually cover all the major events and have you understand what was going on during one of the most historic times of the century. And this was well before talk radio, cable news, and the Internet came into being.
Now, is Walter Cronkite more important than Michael Jackson??? I certainly think so, for reasons stated above. Look, the responsiblity of the expense of that pedophile's memorial is being debated right now in California. How pathetic is that??? - Reply to this comment
- It strikes me as ironic that Katie Couric, fresh from Cronkite's funeral and still dressed in black opened her evening news broadcast with a story--the Gates brouhah--that Cronkite would have relegated to a back page if he reported it at all. Her peers at NBC and ABC did the same. What could illustrate more clearly the decline in seriousness of the evening news presentations of the "major" networks since Cronkite's day? Surely his memory should inspire better.
- Reply to this comment
- ... As an international, award-winning print-journalist of 35+ yrs. in the mainstream-&-gay media on both coasts, I owe my career to Walter Cronkite. It was his unbiased professionalism-&-excellent reporting that inspired me to earn a BA in Broadcast Journalism during the tumultuous late 1960's! His calming voice-&-dogged determination saw us all through some tough times. A true newsperson's newsperson, Mr. Cronkite also was a great American Patriot!
- Reply to this comment
- ... As an international, award-winning print-journalist of 35+ yrs. in the mainstream-&-gay media on both coasts, I owe my career-&-inspiration to Walter Cronkite. We ALL were fortunate to have-his-dependable reporting-&-calming voice during such turbulent yrs.! I find it disturbing-&-ironic that his memorical service didn't receive-1/3rd-the coverage of Michael Jackson! Thank-you Mr. Cronkite for not only your unbiased professionalism but for being a true American Patriot!
- Reply to this comment
- Walter Cronkite was the standard by whom all others were, and always will be, measured in his field. I just wish that CBS realized that we would have liked to be able to see his full funeral on this website and streamed it several times, or put it on CBS after the late night shows so we could Tivo it and see it all rather than just these few minutes. Still photos are nice, but none were of his family, and we really wanted to see it all. For those of us who work during the day it would have been very thoughtful and good use of your sites. How I wish CBS had its own cable network, like MSNBC, so programs could be repeated and people could catch what they missed. Please consider doing that tomorrow night on CBS late at night and announcing it. This was historic and you made it impossible for us to see it, other than live. Many of us would be ever so grateful. Thank you.
- Reply to this comment
- I have been a radio and TV newsreporter for most of my life and have always thought of Walter Cronkite as one of my heroes. His uncle, Fritz Cronkite was a football coach and my mechanical drawing teacher at Central High in St. Joe. I feel pretty much the same as Andy Rooney as not able to grasp the death of such a great newsman. Walter, thank you so much for telling us the way it was. Sterling Bricker
- Reply to this comment
- It's called money and your faher.
- Reply to this comment
- Hey everyone, check out this Walter Cronkite tribute song I made..it's worth the listen. Rest In Peace Walter!!
http://www.zshare.net/audio/63053595fd0a01c5/ - Reply to this comment
- Media bias has been a part of EVERY war. You must mean bias against the war. I'm not totally convinced it was "invented" during Vietnam?
- Reply to this comment
- He was well liked.
But he started media bias around the time of Vietnam. - Reply to this comment
Mike Huckabee on GOP "rock stars," 2012, health care reform and more.
