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Walter Cronkite Honored at Lincoln Center Memorial

By DNAinfo Staff on November 1, 2009 10:42pm  | Updated on September 10, 2009 8:03am

The media capital of the world paused on Wednesday to honor Walter Cronkite at a memorial service at Lincoln Center. 

A who's-who of major political and media figures, including President Barack Obama, gathered in Avery Fisher Hall to pay tribute to the iconic television newsman who passed away this summer at age 92.  On the streets outside, average New Yorkers paused also to remember a man whose reports were considered gospel.

He was "the most trusted man in America," Obama said to an audience that included former President Bill Clinton, astronaut Buzz Aldrin and CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric. "It was a title not bestowed on him by a network. We were not told to believe it by some ad. It was earned."

"During all moments of deepest hurt and brightest hope, Walter was there," Obama said.

Clinton, who became friends with Cronkite years after watching him on television as a teenager, borrowed the anchor's signature closing line when he remembered him as "a man who was important in all our lives, a great citizen and a profoundly good human being. And that's the way it was."

The way it was for Ginny Michaels, 54, was to wait on line for three hours on Wednesday to get tickets to the service. As a young girl, Michaels remembered her family crowding around the television set to watch "Uncle Walter."

"Once he read the news, you trusted it and believed it because it was him," she said.

Elliott Wilshaw, 56, echoed the sentiment. "He was such a trusted voice," he said. Wilshaw appreciated the service because it allowed him to "learn about the man himself."

Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis led a New Orleans-style musical procession with horns and drums through the hall. Jimmy Buffett, Cronkite's close friend and sailing buddy, sang "Son of a Son of a Sailor."

Marlin Swing, 85, of Murray Hill, who worked as a producer at CBS directly with Cronkite for 10 years said the anchor was “the greatest man” he had ever met.

“He was a perfectionist with the utmost integrity,” said Swing. “He had a real presence about him. You could feel his greatness.”