Walter Cronkite, called one of America?s most trusted men, was honored in Annapolis Thursday night and installed as honorary chairman of the National Sailing Hall of Fame?s advisory board.
“I can?t tell you the heartfelt way I feel about Annapolis, and all of you,” Cronkite said. “It?s so important to get this organization in this community because this is where it belongs.”
Cronkite, himself an avid sailor, said one of his first voyages from Long Island Sound was to Annapolis. Still a frequent visitor to “America?s sailing capital,” Cronkite was made an honorary city ambassador, and Annapolis Mayor Ellen Moyer proclaimed Sept. 14 Walter Cronkite Day in the city.
The National Sailing Hall of Fame established a museum in Annapolis in December.
The museum is currently housed in a temporary building on the City Dock, the heart of Annapolis? sailing community.
Sailing Hall of Fame President Dick Franyo said Cronkite was a natural choice for the honorary chairman?s position.
“He?s a huge sailor, he?s the dean,” Franyo said. The state Stadium Authority and the City of Annapolis have committed about $100,000 toward a six-month site study in preparation for building a permanent home for the Hall of Fame and museum.
Annapolis hosts the annual U.S. Powerboat and Sailboat shows in the fall, and has also been a port of call for the Volvo Ocean Race. Cronkite became a familiar face for millions of Americans as the anchor of the CBS Evening News.
From the anchor chair, he presided over such historic events as man landing on the moon and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Born in St. Joseph, Mo., in 1916, Cronkite worked as a correspondent for United Press during World War II and covered the Nazi war crimes trials in Nuremberg, Germany. He anchored the CBS Evening News from 1962 until his retirement in 1981.
