Friends,
I know that there will be countless tributes from my colleagues in public broadcasting about Walter Cronkite and his influence on the entire industry. I grew up with his broadcasts, from the Kennedy assassination to the King assassination to the Kennedy assassination to the Vietnam revelation to the moon walk.
But I have a hazy memory as a six year old in 1962. Our family was in Topeka and my father was on a bomber crew on alert status for the Cuban missile crisis (B-47s). I remember waking up and walking into the kitchen. My mother was chain-smoking cigarettes and my father was in his flight suit. My memory might be hazy, through the fog of years and Mom's smoke, but I remember Cronkite on our black and white TV, the edginess of his voice and the nervous body language of my parents. I had never experienced parental fear, and this was palpable.
From then on, Cronkite was the absolute voice of authority.
Bob
photo: Bernard Stein's retirement in 1967, Spokane, Washington.
L-R: Rick Stein (14), Iris Stein (45), Bernard Stein (46), Bob Stein (11)
