SoCal Reporters, L.A. Mayor Mourn Cronkite

Longtime "CBS Evening News" anchor Walter Cronkite was fondly remembered by fellow journalists and elected officials following his death at the age of 92.

Cronkite, who had been in failing health recently, died Friday at his New York City home of cerebral vascular disease.

His death is "a great loss," Warren Olney, the host of KCRW-FM's "Which Way L.A.?" told City News Service.

"He was a model to people of my generation," said Olney, who had stories used on the "CBS Evening News" in the early 1970s when he was a reporter for KXTV-TV, then the CBS affiliate in Sacramento.

"He had two qualities that I think were important. One was that he had the experience of a foreign correspondent and a reporter who covered the most important events of his era.

"As an anchor, what he had in addition to his credibility, because of his background, was dignity. That also added to his credibility in a way I don't think has survived him in the people who have succeeded him. I think that's too bad, but times have changed, so I mourn that as well as his passing."

Opinion polls regularly found that Cronkite was the most trusted man in America.

Stan Chambers, a reporter and anchor at KTLA-TV Channel 5 since 1947, remembered Cronkite as "very homey, very knowledgeable and very powerful."

"He always kept his cool, " Chambers said in an interview on "KTLA Prime News." "He always had something to say. He always had that ability to reach through the camera to talk with you at home and say here's what happened so I learned a lot from him."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called Cronkite "a national treasure."

"Ever the professional, he was the consummate newsman," Villaraigosa said. "Each night he appeared in the homes of countless Americans to deliver the news of the day.

"During times of uncertainty, he instilled feelings of comfort and strength. During times of sorrow, he helped us mourn. And during times of prosperity, he shared in our joy.

"Walter Cronkite reported on the events that defined us as a nation. He was our voice, our mainstay and calming influence."

Actor George Clooney, a friend of Cronkite who appeared in CBS' 2000 live broadcast of "Fail Safe" that Cronkite hosted, said "he was the most important voice in our lives for 30 years and that voice made people reach for the stars."

"I hate the world without Walter Cronkite," said Clooney, whose father Nick was an anchorman on KNBC-TV Channel 4 and in Cincinnati.

President Barack Obama said Cronkite "set the standard by which all others have been judged."

"He was there through wars and riots, marches and milestones, calmly telling us what we needed to know," Obama said. "And through it all, he never lost the integrity he gained growing up in the heartland.

"But Walter was more than an anchor. He was someone we could trust to guide us through the most important issues of the day, a voice of certainty in an uncertain world. He was family. He invited us to believe in him and he never let us down."

Former President George W. Bush said, "Walter Cronkite was an icon of American journalism who shaped his profession in countless ways during his decades on the air. His family is in our thoughts and prayers."

And another former President, Jimmy Carter, said, "As President, I knew I would be treated fairly by Walter. Although his questions might be tough, I always enjoyed the challenge."

Born Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. on Nov. 4, 1916 in St. Joseph, Mo., his family moved to Houston, Texas when he was 10-years-old. His first effort in journalism came at San Jacinto High School, where he edited the school's newspaper.

He attended college at the University of Texas at Austin but dropped out in 1935 to take the first of a series of reporting jobs with local newspapers. His broadcasting career started in Oklahoma City, OK when he became an announcer at radio station WKY. In 1936 he met his future wife, Mary Elizabeth Maxwell while he was working as the sports announcer for KCMO (AM)in Kansas City.

Cronkite covered World War II for United Press (now United Press International), then was its Moscow bureau chief. He joined CBS News in 1950 after being recruited by Edward R. Murrow, and was the anchorman of its coverage of national political conventions beginning in 1952.

Cronkite was the anchor of the top-rated "CBS Evening News" from 1962 to 1981, along with anchoring coverage of the triumphs of tragedies in the tumultuous 1960s, including the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and space missions.

He retired from the anchor chair at CBS in 1981 and was replaced by former CBS newsman, Dan Rather. One of Cronkite's verbal trademarks was ending each day's CBS Evening News with the phrase, "And that's the way it is."

Cronkite is survived by his three children, Nancy, Kathy and Walter (Chip) III and also four grandchildren.

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