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Walter Cronkite, 1916-2009
Filed under: In Memoriam Tagged: Dana Fradon, In Memoriam, Michael J. Arlen, Walter Cronkite
Martin Schneider writes:
I think the people who do Emdashes are uniformly too young to remember Cronkite in the role that made him such a ubiquitously admired figure. Speaking for myself, to watch Dan Rather chafe so uncomfortably in the role he inherited was to witness the most palpable sign of Cronkite's distinction.
Every year, on January 1, the New Year's Concert, consisting mostly of waltz masterpieces, is broadcast worldwide from Vienna. I watch it most years. For as long as I can remember, Cronkite was the host for the American telecast, and he did a really good job every year. For someone who was supposed to represent "everyman" in some way, he did "high culture" awfully well too. In a way, he embodied the best of America, a sentiment I'm sure we'll be hearing plenty of in the days to come.
Judging from the archive, The New Yorker never really did a big Cronkite article. Perhaps I missed it. My guess is that he perhaps got very entrenched as a national icon a little too quickly, making a Profile almost irrelevant. As with Michael Jackson, The New Yorker generally approached Cronkite obliquely, in reviews, casuals, and cartoons.
Like this one:
About us
Hello! We're a small band of media enthusiasts, culture addicts, and journalists based in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Emdashes, formerly a New Yorker fan site, is our collection of conversations—mostly civilized—about magazines, movies, politics, design, punctuation, and other things that stir us.
You'd like to know more about the writers and artists and what our column titles mean? We live to serve!
We welcome tips, questions, comments, and corrections, and are always on the lookout for ardent, obsessive new contributors. Click here to email us.
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Tell me more
Dashes, some say, “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like an em dash itself—provides a thoughtful pause amid the hubbub.
Emdashes, founded in 2004, is written and drawn by Emily Gordon, Martin Schneider, Pollux, Jonathan Taylor, and Benjamin Chambers, as well as occasional guest contributors. All posts before October 2008 are by Emily Gordon.
The site was designed by House of Pretty with illustrations by Jesse R. Ewing.
Additional drawings are by Carolita Johnson and Pollux (author of our web comic, "The Wavy Rule"). The Emdashes pencil logo is by Jennifer Hadley, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.
Other writing by Emily Gordon
- Writing on theater: reviews (for Time Out Chicago; imperfect but workable search results)
- Profile: Valerie Casey, Designers Accord founder, is spearheading the design of sustainability (for SXSW World)
- Feature: Rea Irvin: visionary art director, bon vivant, New Yorker founding father (for Print)
- Slide show: the Coney Island Mermaid Parade (for NYCgo.com)
- Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands, and an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (for Print)
- Review: King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman (for Newsday)
- Homage: Celebrating lindy-hop legend Frankie Manning (for NYCgo.com)
- Inquiry: Does a New Republic redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
- Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
- Interviews: four up-and-coming designers under 30 (for Print)
- Profile: novelist and dance critic Laura Jacobs (for Newsday)
Blogroll highlights
- Box Office Boffo
- World of Pollux
- Jonathan Taylor
- Carolita Johnson
- Songs for blogroll lovers (more links)
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