Although the bulk of his career took place before I was born, and he clearly lived a long and interesting life, I was saddened to see that Walter Cronkite had passed away. He appeared to be an excellent news anchor, and was unique to his time. If only more journalists were like him, instead of the moronic gasbags that fill up cable TV.
As I said before, I wasn't able to experience his news broadcasting first hand. His final sign off was just months before I was born. However, he certainly affected my life. One of my most vivid memories was of watching him on a laser disc of a special about the Apollo XI Moon landing from about 20 years ago. Obviously I remember him from films such as Apollo 13, and from the various clips of his career. Mention the assassination of JFK to me, and the first image to pop into my head will probably be his announcement of the President's death. I even ended a high school oral report with his famous sign-off.
Later on in his life, I enjoyed listening to him play Benjamin Franklin on Liberty's Kids. Cronkite's voice was probably a bit too refined or Dr. Franklin, but his warmth was probably dead on. He was certainly better than the Governator's Baron Von Steuben.
I'm certain there never will be another anchor like him. Not in this era of high profit pressures on journalism, infotainment, and bloviating airheads. I suppose that is a good thing, as a decentralization of the news can certainly lead to a more skeptical public. If an anchor as trusted as Cronkite was to reappear, and be the mouthpiece of the government, it could be a very bad thing. Still, I would like to hope that someone trustworthy would not be bought.
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