Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 30, 1990 TAG: 9006300472
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"If we pull up to interview someone and another crew is already there, we leave. We don't cover media events," said Kuralt. "There's something about having a story to yourself. I like nosing out stories about people who've never been on TV before. That's probably what I'm best at."
An award-winning CBS News correspondent for 31 years, Kuralt celebrates the nation's 214th birthday Wednesday with another of his signature specials, spotlighting the people and places at the heart of America.
"I think there's more to celebrate on the Fourth of July than there used to be. Things are fairer and more humane and more just. I suppose there is some cynicism in the country, but I think it is at a much lower level than it used to be.
"I think the country has changed so much for the better in the years I have been wandering around: the civil rights movement . . . the women's movement . . . the environmental movement. These notions all originated in the small towns, not in Washington," said Kuralt.
"On the Fourth of July With Charles Kuralt" is a collection of formerly televised portraits and vignettes from rural communities across the country. The special (at 10 p.m. on WDBJ-Channel 7 in the Roanoke viewing area) opens with a montage of memorable Independence Day stories culled from 22 years of his "On the Road" reports, which currently are featured on the "CBS Evening News With Dan Rather" and on occasional prime-time specials.
These quick excerpts include a medley of holiday events - from the 1976 spectacle at New York Harbor to people hanging up their flags in Bristol, R.I., to the country's biggest flag factory.
During the next four segments, which all appeared on "Sunday Morning" - a mix of arts, sports and news essays that he has anchored for 12 seasons - Kuralt introduces viewers to "a few Americans who have impressed me over the years."
He interviews Eudora Welty, who "took photos of her native state (Mississippi) during the Depression"; painter Andrew Wyeth at his home in Chadds Ford, Pa.; singer Arlo Guthrie, who reminisces about his legendary father, Woody Guthrie; and Glen Woolridge, a riverman who "ran the very rough Rogue River in Oregon. He was the first to run it in the World War I days," said Kuralt.
The program commemorates Independence Day in its closing feature: a former "On the Road" report from Witwen, Wis.
"I spent a pleasant Fourth of July there in 1980. About 50 people live there. It isn't even on the map. It was a very neighborly occasion and one that stuck in my mind," remembered Kuralt.
Although the veteran newsman has covered many major international stories over the years, "that's not really my specialty. Something about my temperament - I like the small stories better than the bigger ones," said Kuralt.
His love for these slice-of-life stories has come out of his travels for "On the Road," which originated when "a cameraman and I were flying west one cold night in the '60s, and we looked down at all the lights and said, `Every one of those lights tells a story.' The next morning it still seemed like a good idea. I proposed to go on the road for three months, and my bosses said OK. I was just trying to stay out of the office," he joked.
In October 1967, Kuralt "didn't even know what a motor home was," but he set out to see the country. He and his crew are still traveling along the back roads and through small towns in a motor home, having revisited every state many times over and logged more than a million miles.
"I try to be sure my pieces are not cute and fluffy. I try to find stories about people I admire. It's been very rewarding. The places are still so different. Attitudes are different. I am encouraged by that somehow. I think it's valuable that we retain our regional ways. The vast geographies help breed differences in people," he said.
Kuralt attributes the success of his "On the Road" reports to the uniqueness of the concept at the time it was launched.
"The news of the front pages can be discouraging to people. In 1967, things were really quite bad in the country. There was the violence associated with civil rights. We didn't want to do stories about anyone on the news. There had never been anything like this in television. Now perhaps there's too much of that."
by CNB