'Everday kindness of the back roads'

  “I believe that writing is derivative. I think good writing comes from good reading.” –  Charles Kuralt

 

Kuralt was a master at sharing life from America’s backroads through his in-depth and heartfelt reporting.  Widely known for his "On the Road" segments on The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, he later became the first anchor of CBS News Sunday Morning, which has continued his feature reporting tradition. 

Born in Wilmington, NC in September, 1934 he said he couldn’t remember a time when he didn't want to be a reporter. “I don't know where I got the idea that it was a romantic calling, but I thought it was.  Kids are always asked, ‘What are you going to be when you grow up?’ I needed an answer. So instead of saying, a fireman or a policeman, I said, a reporter.”

He started reporting as a radio announcer at age 14, edited the college newspaper at the University of North Carolina, and then wrote for the Charlotte News, where he earned a prestigious Ernie Pyle Award for his features.  After moving to CBS as a newswriter, he started hosting the Eyewitness to History series, winning a Peabody Award for his reporting.  In all, he won three Peabodys, including one for “On The Road,” for which he also won multiple Emmys.

“I think all those people I did stories about ‘On The Road’ measured their own success by the joy their work was giving them,” he said.                          

   

“The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines.”