Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Published: July 23, 2009

Walter Leland Cronkite, 92, iconic CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor, died Friday, July 17, at his home in Manhattan. Mr. Cronkite, a long-time seasonal Edgartown resident, was a skilled and devoted sailor, sailing Vineyard waters and along the East Coast.

Walter Cronkite at a fundraiser for Sail M.V., one of the many Island organizations he supported. Martha's Vineyard Times file photo

Born on Nov. 4, 1916 in St. Joseph, Mo., he was the son of Walter Leland Cronkite Sr., a dentist, and the former Helen Lena Fritsche. His family moved several times, and as a young boy in Texas, Mr. Cronkite worked for The Houston Post, first as a delivery boy, then copy boy, then cub reporter.

He attended the University of Texas for two years and left college in 1935 to take a job as a reporter. Mr. Cronkite later took a job at KCMO radio in Kansas City, Mo., to read news and broadcast football games under the name of Walter Wilcox. There, he met Mary Elizabeth Maxwell, an advertising writer. They married in 1941, and remained together for 64 years until her death in 2005.

A member of the Edgartown Yacht Club and Edgartown Reading Room and a passionate fundraiser for several nonprofit organizations, including the Foote Memorial Animal Shelter, Sheriff's Meadow Foundation, and Sail Martha's Vineyard, Mr. Cronkite also contributed generously to Martha's Vineyard Community Services' Possible Dreams auction. Every year since its inception in 1979, he donated a sailing excursion on his sailboat Wyntje and lunch made by his wife. In 2006, Mr. Cronkite's offering raised $80,000, according to Jan Hatchard, former development director for Martha's Vineyard Community Services. This year's Possible Dreams auction will be held in his honor.

At the podium with the late Art Buchwald, Mr. Cronkite contributed generously to the Possible Dreams auction for M.V. Community Services. Martha's Vineyard Times file photo

"Everyone knew Uncle Walter," said Island artist Ray Ellis, an Edgartown resident. He and Mr. Cronkite collaborated on three books: "North by Northeast," (1983), "South by Southeast," (1986) and "Windward" (1990). "I shall miss his humor and his fascinating stories. My wife, Teddie, and I heard incredible and intimate stories of his life as a journalist while sailing with him on his beloved Wyntje."

After KCMO, Mr. Cronkite worked at the United Press news agency (now United Press International) and Braniff International Airways. He was selected for an Army Air Force program that took him to Germany to cover the Nuremberg trials after the war.

In 1950, Edward R. Murrow recruited him to work for CBS. Mr. Cronkite developed the news department of a new CBS station in Washington. In 1952, the first presidential year in which television outshone radio, Mr. Cronkite led the coverage of the Democratic and Republican national conventions. Mr. Cronkite went on to anchor every national political convention and election night until 1980, with the exception of 1964, when he was replaced by Roger Mudd and Robert Trout.

In 1961, Mr. Cronkite replaced Mr. Murrow as CBS's senior correspondent, and on April 16, 1962, he began anchoring the evening news. From 1962 to 1981, Mr. Cronkite was a nightly presence in American homes, guiding viewers through national triumphs and tragedies, from moonwalks to war, in an era when network news was central to many people's lives.

Mr. Cronkite retired in 1981 at 64, but he remained involved. He wrote several books, made more than 60 documentaries, was the voice of Benjamin Franklin on the PBS cartoon series "Liberty's Kids," and covered John Glenn's return to space on Discovery in 1998.

He earned Emmy Awards, a Peabody, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981. Arizona State University named its journalism school after him. In July 2006, PBS presented an "American Masters" special devoted to Mr. Cronkite's career.

In addition to his son, Walter "Chip" Leland III, Mr. Cronkite is survived by his daughters, Nancy Elizabeth and Mary Kathleen; and four grandsons. In his last years, he was regularly accompanied by former opera singer Joanna Simon.

A private funeral mass will be celebrated today, July 23, at St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue in New York, N.Y., and Mr. Cronkite will be buried in Kansas City. A separate memorial service is planned for Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York after Mr. Cronkite is buried. In lieu of flowers, the family asks donations be made to the Walter and Betsy Cronkite Foundation by visiting austincommunityfoundation.org.