Remembering Walter Cronkite

I remember Walter Cronkite:

Like many, I grew up watching the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.
"...and that's the way it is, ________. (date). "

I ran into Walter Cronkite, personally at times, while being a photographer for NASA, at Cape Canaveral, Fla., during the 1960's. I would see Walter Cronkite at the CBS News trailer, at the NASA press site, near the LCC (Launch Control Center), which was as close as visitors, or the press, could get to the Apollo Launch Pad 39A during a launch. (One thing I'll never forget, is my astonishment in seeing most of these famous reporters, from everywhere, rapidly pounding out their stories, on their typewriters, --using only two fingers! )

I also remember seeing Walter Cronkite, standing there and smoking his pipe, at a 'post-launch party' in Cocoa Beach. I had the job of taking pictures of selected honourees with various NASA Astronauts, and VIPs. ( Johnny Hart, cartoonist and creator of the comic strip "B.C." had also been invited to the event by IBM, and he drew me a cartoon of his famous snake character ). ( I also remember how beautiful women would cozy up to and flirt with the NASA astronauts there, --just like portrayed in the movie, 'The Right Stuff.' )

At another time, I almost literally 'bumped into' Walter Cronkite and his wife. I had been taking photos at the Hilton Hotel/Motel in Cape Canaveral. I was walking along the sidewalk in front of the rooms, and all of the sudden out pops Walter Cronkite and his wife. So, I just followed behind them, as the three of us walked through the hotel lobby. --Don Cole, People Watcher.