To most Americans, he was the most trusted man in America. To me, Walter Cronkite was a good friend, a prized mentor, and a man to whom I owe much of my professional broadcast journalism career.
Walter Cronkite and Gordon F. Joseloff share a moment in Moscow in 1981 when Joseloff was the CBS News correspondent there.(CLICK TO ENLARGE) CBS News photo

Our connection was we both worked in Moscow for the United Press International (UPI) news agency. It was called United Press when Walter worked there in the late 1940s. It was UPI when I followed in his footsteps three decades later.

There was no doubt that the Moscow wire service connection solidified my journalistic credentials in Walter’s mind--something that became evident after CBS hired me in 1975 while in Moscow for UPI.

At CBS News, I began on the radio side, initially writing newscasts and occasional commentaries for Walter, as well as Dan Rather, Bob Schieffer, Ed Bradley, Roger Mudd, Charles Osgood, Douglas Edwards, and others.