Walter Cronkite

YOU CAN make the argument that any year between 1963 and 1969 was pivotal in our nation's history. For instance, '63 saw the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.-led march on Washington and, of course, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The Beatles arrived (and "American Bandstand" left Philly for Hollywood) in 1964, '65 marked the beginning of years of race riots and '69 included Woodstock and the Apollo 11 moon landing. But for sheer breadth and scope of epochal events - not to mention horror - 1968 has no rival.

Walter Cronkite, 92, the television newsman once famously described as the most trusted man in America, has died. CBS vice president Linda Mason told the Associated Press that Mr. Cronkite died at his home in New York at 7:42 p.m. Friday after a long illness. His family was by his side. Mr. Cronkite's longtime chief of staff, Marlene Adler, said the cause of death was cerebral vascular disease. The term anchorman was invented to describe Mr. Cronkite. As the anchor of the CBS Evening News from 1962 until 1981, he set a standard for accuracy, fairness, and dependability.

I am, at the moment of writing, seated with my small typewriter at a perfect little mahogany desk below the teak deck of Walter Cronkite's 48-foot sailboat, "Wyntje. " (Yachtsmen are never satisfied with the words ordinary mortals use.) There are six of us aboard, with sleeping space for all. We are anchored in a little cove, protected from the wind and waves of open water, that is perfect in every detail. The green hills rise sharply from a short distance behind the crescent-shaped beach.

Amid bouncing martial music, high-stepping horses and snapping, red, white and blue flags, the young troops of Valley Forge honored an old war correspondent yesterday. Walter Cronkite, who reported from the Normandy beaches early in his career and from the anchor's chair of CBS News later on, was presented the Bob Hope Five-Star Award during ceremonies at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne. The award is given for distinguished service to America. Cronkite, 79, told the crowd of 2,300 that he was thrilled to accept the gold medal, which in the past has gone to Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Walter Annenberg, Ronald Reagan, and Sens.

Today's social topic is: How To Make Small Talk With Famous People. You never know when you're going to be on an elevator or in a public restroom and suddenly you realize that you're standing next to a famous person such as Walter Cronkite or the pope. When this happens, the important thing is to remain calm, act normal and make an appropriate conversational remark such as: "How about those Sacramento Kings, your Holiness?" Or: "Walter Cronkite! You're still alive?" The problem is that you can't always, on the spur of the moment, think of remarks as appropriate as these.

1. c. Scott Pelley. 2. d. Katie Couric. 3. b. Dan Rather, from March 9, 1981, to March 9, 2005. 4. a. Walter Cronkite. 5. c. 1962. 6. b. Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. 7. d. Andy Rooney. 8. c. Douglas Edwards. 9. a. Connie Chung, with Dan Rather, from 1993-95. 10. b. 60 Minutes.

With a new anchor taking over the "CBS Evening News" Monday, let's take a trip down network-anchor-and-personality lane. 1. Who is the new CBS anchor? a. Bob Schieffer. b. Meredith Vieira. c. Scott Pelley. d. Lesley Stahl. 2. Whom is the new anchor replacing? a. Meredith Vieira. b. Barbara Walters. c. Oprah Winfrey. d. Katie Couric. 3. Who was the longest-serving CBS anchor? a. Walter Cronkite.

IREACT WITH amusement and disbelief to reports that CBS is courting Katie Couric to become Dan Rather's successor as "Evening News" anchor. Katie Couric is not known as a journalist or a serious news person - her credentials feature qualities as a perky, liberal entertainment-show hostess who is vastly overpaid for her "talent. " The thought of Katie Couric taking up the mantle of CBS news titans Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather is absurd. Oren M. Spiegler Upper Saint Clair, Pa.

WANT to hear the "Walter Cronkite of Iraq?" Bahjat Abdulwahed will speak at an event, "Muslims in America: Building Bridges in a Climate of Fear," from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Friends Center, 1501 Cherry St., in Center City. The event will feature a screening of Hawo's Dinner Party, a 30-minute video adapted from the documentary Welcome to Shelbyville, which tells the story of a small Tennessee town as it grappled with Somali refugees. The video will be followed by a discussion from local Muslims, including Abdulwahed.

Walter Cronkite, whose 1968 declaration that the "bloody experience of Vietnam is a stalemate" is thought to have helped drive President Lyndon B. Johnson from office, said yesterday that it's time for the United States to leave Iraq. Speaking before members of the Television Critics Association at a press conference for PBS' "American Masters," which is profiling the 89-year-old former CBS News anchor in July, Cronkite said, "I think we missed one of the great opportunities" to pull out of Iraq in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

YOU CAN make the argument that any year between 1963 and 1969 was pivotal in our nation's history. For instance, '63 saw the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.-led march on Washington and, of course, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The Beatles arrived (and "American Bandstand" left Philly for Hollywood) in 1964, '65 marked the beginning of years of race riots and '69 included Woodstock and the Apollo 11 moon landing. But for sheer breadth and scope of epochal events - not to mention horror - 1968 has no rival.

WANT to hear the "Walter Cronkite of Iraq?" Bahjat Abdulwahed will speak at an event, "Muslims in America: Building Bridges in a Climate of Fear," from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Friends Center, 1501 Cherry St., in Center City. The event will feature a screening of Hawo's Dinner Party, a 30-minute video adapted from the documentary Welcome to Shelbyville, which tells the story of a small Tennessee town as it grappled with Somali refugees. The video will be followed by a discussion from local Muslims, including Abdulwahed.

1. c. Scott Pelley. 2. d. Katie Couric. 3. b. Dan Rather, from March 9, 1981, to March 9, 2005. 4. a. Walter Cronkite. 5. c. 1962. 6. b. Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. 7. d. Andy Rooney. 8. c. Douglas Edwards. 9. a. Connie Chung, with Dan Rather, from 1993-95. 10. b. 60 Minutes.

With a new anchor taking over the "CBS Evening News" Monday, let's take a trip down network-anchor-and-personality lane. 1. Who is the new CBS anchor? a. Bob Schieffer. b. Meredith Vieira. c. Scott Pelley. d. Lesley Stahl. 2. Whom is the new anchor replacing? a. Meredith Vieira. b. Barbara Walters. c. Oprah Winfrey. d. Katie Couric. 3. Who was the longest-serving CBS anchor? a. Walter Cronkite.

Walter Cronkite was born in Missouri and educated in Texas, and he grew up to become the most trusted man in America by a vote of his countrymen. He was a man with many sides: sailor, race-car driver, bon vivant, and, most of all, journalist and role model to so many of us who shared his profession. For more than half a century, Cronkite was in the middle of the biggest stories of his time. He covered World War II on bombing runs out of England and on the ground at the Battle of the Bulge for United Press, the clickety-clack, news-bulletin wire service that formed his journalistic sensibilities for the rest of his career.

While being interviewed several years ago, Walter Cronkite explained that good journalism is telling the public what it needs to know, not just what it wants to know. It's a code of conduct that he exemplified, but that too frequently is not in evidence today as the news media scramble to keep up with the public's fascination with pop culture. Witness the continuing coverage of Michael Jackson's death. The public is unlikely to see that type of attention paid to Cronkite, who died Friday at 92. But his impact on this nation was much greater than the King of Pop's.

Walter Cronkite, 92, the television newsman once famously described as the most trusted man in America, died of cerebral vascular disease last night at his home in New York. The term anchorman was invented to describe Mr. Cronkite. As the anchor of the CBS Evening News from 1962 until 1981, he set a standard for accuracy, fairness, and dependability. His fame was worldwide: In Sweden, anchors are called "Cronkiters. " Mr. Cronkite's avuncular and authoritative baritone guided viewers through some of the most traumatic and spellbinding news events of the 20th century: the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; the civil-rights struggles in the South; the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago; the first walk by a man on the moon in 1969; the Vietnam War; and the Watergate scandal.

Walter Cronkite, 92, the television newsman once famously described as the most trusted man in America, has died. CBS vice president Linda Mason told the Associated Press that Mr. Cronkite died at his home in New York at 7:42 p.m. Friday after a long illness. His family was by his side. Mr. Cronkite's longtime chief of staff, Marlene Adler, said the cause of death was cerebral vascular disease. The term anchorman was invented to describe Mr. Cronkite. As the anchor of the CBS Evening News from 1962 until 1981, he set a standard for accuracy, fairness, and dependability.

Walter Cronkite is lending his name to the effort to preserve the United States, the Cold War-era ocean liner that has languished at a South Philadelphia dock for more than a decade. The legendary CBS newsman this week accepted the post of honorary chairman of the SS United States Conservancy, a national group committed to preserving the vessel, a spokesman for Cronkite said Wednesday. The 990-foot ship was put up for sale in January by its current owner, Norwegian Cruise Lines, for an estimated $20 million.

Walter Cronkite, whose 1968 declaration that the "bloody experience of Vietnam is a stalemate" is thought to have helped drive President Lyndon B. Johnson from office, said yesterday that it's time for the United States to leave Iraq. Speaking before members of the Television Critics Association at a press conference for PBS' "American Masters," which is profiling the 89-year-old former CBS News anchor in July, Cronkite said, "I think we missed one of the great opportunities" to pull out of Iraq in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.