WALTER CRONKITE
"And That's the Way It Is"
Born November 4, 1916 St. Joseph, Missouri Retired American Broadcast Journalist Anchorman for the CBS Evening News (1962-1981) Hailed "The Most Trusted Man in America"
Walter Cronkite, "More than a Legend." He's a master craftsman at anything he does. He's simply the best. He's also a very nice man.
His personal secretary Lisa Beatrice, and I were closely in touch as to what date I should mail The Tablecloth to her at CBS to have Mr. Cronkite sign it. His busy schedule didn't give us a lot of leeway to work with. We were in touch daily to finally agree on April 17, 1989 to have it signed. Since he had spent so much time with the Apollo Space Program and Flight Missions, I had the cloth folded to where a few of the Moonwalkers had signed it. Our efforts were rewarded with a nice signature of Walter Cronkite, and it has been beautifully embroidered.
Twelve years later he was scheduled for a speaking engagement at Powell Hall in St. Louis, November 1, 2001. This time I was in touch with his new secretary, Marline Adler. Arrangements were made for me to meet with him as he was leaving the Ritz Carlton Hotel that evening. She informed me that I would not have much time to spend with him as they would be going through the lobby hurriedly to a waiting Limo to take them to Powell Hall. Marline gave me permission to bring my own photographer, Steven Straub. Steve brought his mom and dad to get a glimpse.
"Mr. Light, this is Walter Cronkite and his wife Betsy," Marline introduced. That was quite a thrill seeing this great man so close up as this. We shook hands and began some questions from him about The Tablecloth. He was all smiles and quite curious about the collection. I showed him his signature and how beautifully it had been embroidered.
"Oh, that's my signature all right," he added. "Your mother got me to sign this ?" he asked.
"No Mr. Cronkite, I mailed this to your secretary Lisa Beatrice in 1989 for you to sign it," I informed him.
"Oh yes, Lisa. That had to be at least ten years ago," he said. "How many names do you have on this now?" he asked. "When did your mother start this?" he asked. "This is really fantastic, Walter." Just then, a young boy popped out of the quickly gathering crowd and handed him a baseball to sign.
Marlene interrupted, "We have to go now. Hundreds of people will be very unhappy if we don't get to the theatre on time."
Another handshake, "It was certainly a pleasure to get to meet you Walter," he said. "Good luck on getting this filled," he added as his entourage began walking toward the waiting Limousine. "And That's the Way it Was."