Soon the simulation was replaced by real, live images from the surface of the moon, as Armstrong descended the steps of the lander and onto the moon's gray, powdery surface. "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind," said Armstrong as he made the final step from the lander's ladder onto the surface.
Cronkite's experience was ours. He didn't presume to know more than we did, but expressed what everyone seemed to feel, an avatar to our own emotions in that moment. He watched along with all of us, even initially missing the second part of Armstrong's now famous (and often satirized) quote.
"Neil Armstrong, 38-year-old astronaut, standing on the surface of the moon," was all Cronkite needed to say. I don't remember much about the moment he landed. It was late, and my parents had thought to wake me up from a sound sleep to share in the experience of the first steps on humankind's first steps on the moon. But a few days later, standing among the throng of baseball fans in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field, I fully felt the impact of a "shared historic moment," and it's what I remember most about that week 40 years ago.
The Cubs won that day and were on their way to World Series, or so we all thought (or wanted to believe) at the time. They folded (as was their custom) by late August, but that shared moment in time has stayed with me for forty years. There were no Blackberries, iPhones; no pagers to keep you up to the minute on the unfolding events, just everyone listening to the trusted voice of Walter Cronkite, his voice, somber; the gravitas of the moment imbued in every word, narrating their journey—and ours—into the hitherto unknown and back to terra firma.
In an irony that would not have been missed by the iconic television newsman, Cronkite died yesterday, Friday, July 17, 2009, forty years exactly after that week's events. It seems so long ago, that July week in 1969. The footage and simulations seem antiquated in the instantaneous and high-tech nature of the news today. Even more so with the advent of Twitter and its on-the-ground, on-the-spot reporting, unfiltered and raw. An as-it-happens experience.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Great article Barbara.
-Glen
2 - Orange450
A lovely article, Barbara.
For 32 years, I've treasured the memory of a very brief personal interaction with Walter Cronkite. It was 1977, I was a college senior, and he'd come to my NYC school to deliver an open lecture to the student body on modern communications media and broadcast journalism. These were not my specific areas of interest, but I would have gone to listen to Mr. Cronkite speak about anything, so I attended.
I had made sure to arrive early, in order to get a good seat, so I was sitting towards the front. Mr. Cronkite took questions at the end of his lecture, and I was one of the lucky ones to be called on. This was before the days of wireless mikes, the large auditorium was full, and I still remember my excitement, nervousness, and the necessity to almost shout my question so that it could be heard on stage.
I don't remember my question, but I remember how graciously Mr. Cronkite answered me. Something in his response raised a laugh from the audience, and he directed a twinkle at me. His warmth and genuine interest in students were palpable.
As silly as it sounds, I've felt personally connected to him ever since.
3 - Barbara S Barnett
Glen, thanks!
Orange, thanks for sharing that memory. I think many of us have our memories of Cronkite, and yours is especially personal.
Those newsmen of the day held special places in everyone's memory book no matter how old or young. I remember when I was really young, Lowell Thomas' newscast played on the radio every night during dinner. My (much older) brother was actually named after him!
4 - Orange450
We were a loyal Huntley-Brinkley family. Probably because of the ending theme (2nd movement of Beethoven's 9th).
My Viennese father - who shared a birthplace with Beethoven - raised us on that music. And even tho' my dad was, and still is, more of a newspaper/radio person (he's 87, 'bis 120, and still doesn't have a TV!), he enjoyed H-B because of the music.
Eventually, I became a devoted Tom Lehrer fan, and discovered that he'd immortalized them in "So Long, Mom":
"While we're attacking frontally,
Watch Brink-a-ley and Hunt-a-ley
Describing contrapuntally
The cities we have lost..."
How sad is it that nothing's changed since that song was written, in 1965?
5 - roger nowosielski
A fitting video link to this memorable song.
6 - Barbara S Barnett
I was weaned on "That Was the Week That Was," where Tom morphed from a Math professor to a troubadour of the times
7 - Ruvy
Barbara,
That was an excellently written article. Far better these few pieces on a true icon of news broadcasting, Walter Cronkite, than the orgasmic outpouring of trash on an overrated singer who died from a heart attack recently.
Perhaps, the only thing you failed to mention (understandably, you were only a kid in 1963) was that Walter Cronkite was a national avatar in many events in that troubled series of years where he was an anchor for CBS News, once the best in the business.
kol hakvód - all honor to you! Full marks, Barb!
8 - Joanne Huspek
The best thing I liked among all the accolades for him this weekend? People said he was a genuinely nice man.
That beats the pants off anything else you could say.