Farewell Mr. Cronkite

Walter Cronkite, newsman who was unmatched, died yesterday, at the age of 92. He worked right up to last year, working on documentaries and voice overs after retiring from the CBS anchor desk in the 1980s.

As a Canadian, I didn't watch much of him, but we did know who he was. And, if we turned to the CBS network to watch a program that came after his newscast, we got to watch some of him as we waited for the news to be over.

Even as a child, I remember being impressed with Mr. Cronkite. To me, even now, he is the quintessential newsman. His is the way news should be read. I don't enjoy watching TV news now. I don't want my newscasters raising their eyebrows, creasing their foreheads or frowning as they read the news with their interpretive expressive tones. I want to be told the news - plain and simple. But plain and simple is gone now. I doubt it will come back.

I was watching a special on him this morning and he wanted so badly to go into space. He was like a kid when it came to all things space-related apparently. Maybe now, he's there.

Mr. Cronkite's cause of death is said to be cerebrovascular disease, not unusual for a man in his 90s. RIP Mr. Cronkite.