Around America: A Tour of Our Magnificent Coastline

Walter Cronkite shows that he was a talented writer amid his many journalistic talents. The book is a leisurally read; I'm sure he wrote it as if his readers were aboard his boat with him. The book is filled with history, as well a interesting tidbits of his experiences of his journies to the areas he describes, as well, as self-depricating humor about minor saling mishaps and near mishaps. Mostly, though, it's his tribute to the beautiful coatlines of the US that he seems fortunate enough to have seen firsthand. The book arrived from the seller quickly, and in great condition, even better than described.

I never know what is going to catch my eye, and one afternoon at a bookstore, this did. Mr. Cronkite's voyages around the coastline of America, from New England to the Pacific Northwest, present parts of our nation in a whole new way. I loved reading about the towns and cities the Cronkite's visited, and I loved finding out about the natural features and the wildlife that called them all home. Cronkite has not lost the talent of looking at the world thru a reporter's eye, and his descriptions of lighthouses, shipwrecks, flora and fauna and the residents of scores of seaside locales drew me in. This unexpeced read turned out to be one of the books I most enjoyed a couple years ago when I got it. Lovers of the sea, fans of this legendary former network anchorman, or anyone who simply treasures a good book, will find their time spent here well-invested.

I've long respected Walter Cronkite, loved history and geography, and been remarkably queasy about being out on a boat. Despite my fear of sailing, I truly enjoyed this book. Cronkite is, no surprise, a wonderful storyteller. As he meanders the upper and lower stretches of the Atlantic Seaboard, followed, more cursorily, by the Gulf and Pacific coasts, he tells stories about the history and geography of our coasts. In many ways, despite our vast interior stretches, America is an ocean country and Cronkite revels in sharing his insights and loves. Particularly poignant now, though unintentionally, are his discourses about Manhattan and the general New York City area. Although he but mentions the World Trade Center in passing, one can only imagine the changed skyline from a small boat and what Mr. Cronkite might say about that. All in all, a delightful tour of our magnificent coastline. And if you actualy enjoy sailing, this would have to be a perfect book!

Living on Martha's Vineyard, he's our neighbor. And what a treat. "The Most Trusted Man in America," and an intrepid sailor, came to Block Island to autograph this spellbinding book. In it, he calls Block Island "a delightfully wild place of steep hills and flower-covered moors dotted with the homes of summer residents. It rises in the south to drop suddenly into the Atlantic, the two-hundred-foot-high bluffs reminding the approaching sailor of the cliffs of Dover." And all the other places and people he encounters along the USA's coastline make this book a MUST-read for sailors and armchair sailors...and certainly anyone who loves Block Island.