Walter Cronkite

I don't even have to look for it to know I have it somewhere. It's a letter from Walter Cronkite. Although it was addressed to me, it was I'm sure one of what I would guess were thousands of letters he mailed to people who wrote to thank him for his coverage of the moon landing and walk.

It was forty years ago, and even though he was reporting on the event there were people like myself who believed he had a hand in creating the event. He wouldn't have liked that, and surely would be quick to remind and even prove to someone he didn't make the news. But he did create how you reacted to the news, and that's why he got so much thanks.

A few years ago I was at a New York Pops concert at Carnegie Hall with my daughter. Skitch Henderson had just passed away, and at the concert there were a few people there to say a few words about Skitch. One of those people was Walter Cronkite, who emerged somewhat unsteadily, but unaided, as he approached the microphone. He spoke a bit. Not too long, but I immediately knew what I hadn't been hearing for quite a few years. The sound of his voice. It was a radio voice that had made it to television, and therefore into the living room. I closed my eyes, and the voice was coming from someone who wasn't in their 90s, shaking a bit at the microphone, but rather from someone who was very much in command of what they were saying. Which they were.

The letter I and others received after the moon landing and walk was a simple thank you. A few sentences, on a half sheet of paper, with no fancy letterhead or logo. Maybe just a name at the top. I really only remember part of one sentence, but have never had to reread the letter to refresh my memory. Walter Cronkite expressed his thanks for the thanks and said he felt like, "the gushy recipient of an Oscar..."

A great comparison. Only they give Oscars for acting, and he never did.

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