Friday, July 17, 2009

RIP Walter Cronkite

I just read about the death of Walter Cronkite this evening. He's one of those folks that you think will never pass away, will always be there, like that uncle you thought was really old back when you were little, but now you're all grown up and that uncle is still there. But Mr. Cronkite is no longer with us. I remember watching films (from a projector!) in class that featured him reporting on historical events, walking into the middle of a raging battle with his microphone and proclaiming You Are There! I only have vague memories of watching his evening news broadcasts at my grandparent's house. I can remember the bare set better than anything else, none of the flashy stuff you see today. And I can remember one night he wasn't there, instead they had some younger guy with big sideburns. I guess that was Dan Rather, or maybe Roger Mudd, not sure. Oh, and Walter used to be the voice of Spaceship Earth at EPCOT. They recently redid that ride, and I don't think it's narrated by him anymore. Oh, well, time marches on.

2 comments:

  1. The 20th century's greatest announcer and greatest newsman, and a person of remarkable integrity. He was the anchor who declared the Vietnam war unwinnable, as much as it pained him to do so.

    He epitomized the difference between greatness and mere fame.

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  2. The narration's now done by Judi Dench.

    The redone version is really nice, smoothly combining the old elements with the new and making the descent down considerably more interesting.

    It's really hard to imagine Cronkite being dead.

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