Walter Cronkite, you are not!
In the 90s, I started practicing my writing. I would sit long hours at the word processor pretending that words are pearls and try to string them into a lovely necklace.
I wrote and rewrote. Then rewrote some more. I was practicing journalism.
My husband, at the time, the late Roger D. Coster, who died today, 17 years ago, would occasionally peek behind my shoulder to check what I was doing, in our shared office.
I did not like it.
Sharing half-baked ideas isn’t smart. They just don’t sound good, when still in the creative process of formulation.
I used to shoe him away.
But one day, lost in thought I did not notice, he was reading my emerging text behind my shoulder, and after a while he said, as if into the air: Not bad, but Walter Cronkite, you are not!
The late Walter Cronkite, was THE most trusted journalist in America over a span of a 60-year career with CBS. In terms of writing and presenting, he was god.
I wasn’t offended by the remark, I did not have my eyes on journalism, I wanted to become a columnist and as such you can be imperfect!
In his way, Roger tried to shield me from public criticism, and perhaps the disappointment from not finding success.
May he continue to rest in peace.
