The recent spate of celebrity deaths has continued with Walter Cronkite dying peacefully in New York at the ripe old age of 92. Cronkite was a legendary news anchor who pioneered television news coverage.
Cronkite started in radio before covering World War II for United Press. In 1950, Cronkite joined CBS News as part of its fledgling television department. After mainly covering politics for a number of years, he took over as anchorman of the CBS Evening News in 1962 and never looked back.
His role as CBS News anchorman made him a broadcasting legend, with people growing up in the 1960s and 1970s having their lives punctuated by Cronkite reporting the news of the day, which included JFK being assassinated and man landing on the moon.
Cronkite eventually retired in 1981 and handed the anchorman role over to Dan Rather. Cronkite died after a long time of being seriously ill with cerebrovascular disease. But he will always be remembered as a pioneer of television news and broadcast journalism.
And that’s the way it is… Walter Cronkite: November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009.
