It was exactly one month ago that Gail Shister entered the race to be “first” to call Walter Cronkite’s pending death.  I almost wrote a blog post last week wondering whether Shister felt at all macabre that the “most trusted man in America” was still alive, until I realized it would conflict with an earlier post I wrote.

NPR has an excellent obituary that I recommend you read. Also, check out Haikuku‘s ode to Cronkite.  I’ve missed journalists of his caliber for years, so my mourning is tempered.

The wrangling over the Wikipedia biography of Walter Cronkite and what is apparently his failing health has begun.  Wikipedia editors often get this kind of news early, as people rush to update Wikipedia articles the moment they learn something.

Gail Shister at Mediabistro blog TVNewser is responsible for the rumor, quoting unidentified sources inside CBS.  The network has officially declined to confirm reports that the news legend is in poor health.

In an interview with Shister in 2006, the now 92-year-old Cronkite was asked if he ever thought about death:

“When you get to be 89, you have to think about it a little bit. It doesn’t prey on me, and it doesn’t keep me awake nights. Occasionally, when I’m upset about something else, I think, ‘My gosh, I don’t know if I should do this or that because I’m not sure I’ll be here that long to enjoy it.’”

This story presages the inevitable “Death of News” stories that will follow when Cronkite passes.  He and Edward R. Murrow are the two historical news figures that most symbolize a perceived golden era when American news was there to inform, and not entertain.  Yes kids, they predate Fox News.

Update 7/18:  Walter Cronkite has died.