Bob Seymour delivered Kuralt's graveside service in Chapel Hill. The retired minister had known Kuralt when the latter was a teenager at Myers Park Baptist Church. "As a teenager at Myers Park, I remember him as a young man with poise and self confidence and one who seemed to have considerable promise for some outstanding future," Seymour says. "He was an outstanding teenager."

Seymour says to his knowledge there was no affirmation of religious faith in Kuralt's life. "That doesn't mean one does not believe in God," Seymour says. "It means that one is not sure."

Transcript of CBS Memorial Service
Alice Tully Hall At Lincoln Center, New York
Wednesday, July 23, 1997

ANDREW HEYWARD: Good morning, and welcome. I'm Andrew Heyward, President of CBS News. On behalf of all of my colleagues at CBS, we're very glad that you're here.

Petie Kuralt and Wallace Kuralt, I hope you know how deeply we feel your loss and our loss today, and we appreciate the opportunity to share these memories of Charles Kuralt with you.

It's customary on these occasions to exaggerate the accomplishments of the person being eulogized. In the case of Charles Kuralt, that's not possible. It's not possible to overstate Charles Kuralt's achievements, as a writer, reporter, anchor, editor, storyteller, gentleman. It's only possible to understate those achievements, which is what Charles would do if he were here with us today.

It was a source of great joy to us when Charles Kuralt of ON THE ROAD and SUNDAY MORNING returned to CBS recently to anchor a new program for cable called I REMEMBER. Seeing him amongst us again made us all remember.

And, I think, it's perhaps ironic that we acknowledge Charles Kuralt as a giant, as someone who not just set but helped invent the standards of excellence in broadcast journalism at a time when so much television falls so short of what he stood for. A friend of mine wondered out loud yesterday whether Charles would even make it in the business today. I believe the answer is yes, but it's a pretty scary question. It's true that Charles was no threat to the world's supply of hair spray or hyperbole. He was, quite simply, a great man.

Today you'll hear from some of Charles's CBS News colleagues, some who worked closely with him, others who, like the rest of us, were touched, moved, inspired, maybe even changed by Charles Kuralt.

For the benefit of those in the audience who don't know all the speakers, I'll provide a very brief introduction to each one.

We begin with Phil Scheffler, executive editor of 60 MINUTES. Phil was Charles's best and oldest friend at CBS News. They were colleagues for 40 years and next-door neighbors for 20 years in Essex, Connecticut. Phil?

Additional Tributes

Phil Scheffler | Dan Rather | Shad Northshield
Ed Bradley | Walter Cronkite | Bernie Birnbaum
Linda Mason | Missie Rennie | Mike Wallace
Andy Rooney

USA Today Editorial
Forgiving Charles Kuralt

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