My Interview with Walter Cronkite

Thursday Jul 23, 2009

"And That's the Way it is!"

With the passing of television icon Walter Cronkite there is a giant sense of loss.

Millions of Americans will miss the steady assuring delivery of a man whom we all trusted to bring us the evening news.

My most vivid memories of him start with his reporting of the assassination of President Kennedy. As a graduate student at Purdue University, I was walking through the Memorial Union when I noticed a large group of students huddled around a television set.

Just as I arrived, Mr. Cronkite announced -- with a long pause and a lump in his throat -- that President Kennedy had died. I will never forget his delivery of that horrible news: respectfully and with dignity. You could see that he felt what we all felt.

Many years later, when I was President of Marshall University in West Virginia. the Charleston Chamber of Commerce featured him at their annual meeting. That occasion brought a special opportunity for me. There would be no speech. Simply a Question and Answer session. The Presidents of Marshall University and West Virginia University would host and ask the questions.

When Mr. Cronkite arrived his foot was in a cast and his mobility was hampered, but to share the stage with him for the next hour was exhilarating. He responded to every question with warmth, sincerity, humor and was just plain Walter.

Some of you may know that I collect baseballs. Mine are not signatures of baseball players -- but famous Americans. It was a memorable night -- being up close and personal with this man who I had watched on television since 1965. He was exactly the same as on the evening news.

Mine is the only baseball he ever signed.

"And that's the way it is!"

Category: Miscellaneous

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