From his July 22 Slate column:

He sailed. He was avuncular. He had a beer gut. He inspired John Waters to grow a moustache (I think!). And he was way too into the space program for a grown man.

But Shafer also offers up some interesting arguments on why Cronkite's "trust" factor may have been accidentally high -- and why trust in journalists shouldn't be fetishized to the point where healthy skepticism is abandoned.