MARC AGRONIN: “And that’s the way it is . . .” These are fitting words for a retirement party, declaring the actuality of the ending career, tinged with a degree of mournful resignation. These words also represent the byline of my retirement role model—Walter Cronkite, one of America’s most enduring icons who served for 19 years as the anchorman of the CBS Evening News.
After retiring from his position in 1981, Cronkite faced a tremendous change in his daily routine and role, and was no longer in the spotlight that had become his home–a job that he later described as being “like a comfortable old shoe” to his audience. There was no going back; like the situation of many retirees, the position that provided a sense of daily purpose, activity and role was irretrievably gone.