American newsman Walter Cronkite died Friday, 17 July 2009, at 92 years of age. It seems like most people these days will quickly tell you that a particular celebrity "influenced" or "inspired" them. I am not usually one of those people. But the voice of Walter Cronkite was the soundtrack of my evenings from birth through adolescence. His voice, second only to that of my parents, is thoroughly entrenched in my memory.
Walter Cronkite was such a steadfast and dependable presence, such an inspiration to me, that when I became old enough to consider a career, my first choice was simple: journalism. In high school, I wrote for the school paper and even received my own column in our local city paper. Despite some career changes throughout the years, I have never lost my passion for the straight news story. It was no surprise to me when I returned to writing a few years ago and began contributing to our local paper and television station. I am an amateur, a hobbyist even, but Cronkite was the American voice of calm and reason during decades of our deepest fears and soundest defeats and he sounded the calm, assured joy of our greatest achievements.
He had a long career and what I hope was an extremely gratifying life. We have no autopsies or criminal investigations of his death to expect. He was simply A Good Man who lived a long life. For those of us who grew up with him in our homes, his voice will live on in our collective memory.
Walter Cronkite was such a steadfast and dependable presence, such an inspiration to me, that when I became old enough to consider a career, my first choice was simple: journalism. In high school, I wrote for the school paper and even received my own column in our local city paper. Despite some career changes throughout the years, I have never lost my passion for the straight news story. It was no surprise to me when I returned to writing a few years ago and began contributing to our local paper and television station. I am an amateur, a hobbyist even, but Cronkite was the American voice of calm and reason during decades of our deepest fears and soundest defeats and he sounded the calm, assured joy of our greatest achievements.
He had a long career and what I hope was an extremely gratifying life. We have no autopsies or criminal investigations of his death to expect. He was simply A Good Man who lived a long life. For those of us who grew up with him in our homes, his voice will live on in our collective memory.
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