Goodbye "Uncle Walter"

This corespondent says farewell to a man who for over two decades was the "most trusted man in America." Walter Cronkite, the face of CBS News for so many years, died today. Mr. Cronkite was 92.

Don't get me wrong, Mr. Cronkite was as pink as Britney Spears getting out of an auto, but he was the man who gave us the news without bias. He was the one who informed me of the death of Jack Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. I was glued to the TV on July 20, 1969 and watched with Uncle Walter man's greatest achievement and like Uncle Walter, I had a tear in my eye when we heard Neil Armstrong's first words from the moon. I watched his almost boy-like "Oh Boy!" when the "Eagle" landed.

More than anything, a generation of Americans will remember him for his outstanding coverage of the space program. It is somewhat fitting and sad that he passes days before the 40Th anniversary of man's landing on the moon.

It was Walter Cronkite who announced that the 37Th President of the United States was resigning and it was Walter Cronkite who so elegantly appeared hen the Challenger Shuttle exploded over Florida.

Walter Cronkite was the consummate journalist who very rarely injected his own political ideology into his newscast. He didn't slant the news as it is done today to favor his own position and he certainly didn't invent or make up news as his successor did. Today's journalist could learn a lot from Mr. Cronkite.

He lived long enough to see the number one news show that he built from the ground up, be destroyed by half weights and eye candy and yet, as a true professional, he remained loyal to CBS News.

We did not agree politically, but I loved watching him at the conventions, with his insight and knowledge. These were the days where a convention actually meant something, when a candidate or a Vice President would be picked after some backroom negotiations. Walter would always have the top of the list guest and I would love to listen to him interview the likes of Kennedy, Nixon, Carter and Reagan. It was Cronkite who brought Sadat and Begin together. It was Walter who interviewed every president since Truman. I was surprised to learn that he and Reagan were great friends who often shared a drink and off-colored jokes. Walter had a great sense of humor and didn't take himself too seriously. He was good at what he did and we will miss him. If you would please indulge me, I would like to close the way Mr. Cronkite would.

"And that's the way it it, this Friday July 17, 2009. This is Walter Cronkite.......Goodnight."