Community Corner

Charlayne Hunter-Gault to Receive 2012 Walter Cronkite Award

The 3rd Annual Awards Ceremony will be held at the Old Whaling Church on August 2nd

Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes were the first two African-American students to enroll in the University of Georgia in 1961. Hunter-Gault went on to become an award-winning journalist, serving as National Public Radio's chief correspondent in Africa, specializing in coverage of the urban African-American community for The New York Times and was the national correspondent for The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour for many years. Hunter-Gault is author of In My Place a memoir about her experiences at the University of Georgia and has recently written a new book, To The Mountaintop: My Journey Through the Civil Rights Movement. This Thursday, Hunter-Gault will be named as the 2012 Walter Cronkite Award Recipient at a ceremony at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown.

The Walter Cronkite Awards Ceremony is organized by the Stone Soup Leadership Institute, a non-profit educational organization founded on Martha’s Vineyard in 1997. Mr. Cronkite was the Institute’s honorary chairperson for over a decade. His wisdom and vision of preparing our youth to be future leaders in their communities gave rise to the Annual Awards Ceremony. The Awards are presented to a young person and an adult who are using the power of the media to build a more educated and sustainable world. 

Charlayne’s life-long commitment to using the power of the media to build a better world is truly inspiring,” said the Institute’s Executive Director Marianne Larned. “Her new book and her passion about teaching young people about the civil rights movement are aligned with our vision and mission.”

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Nick Clooney, the former CBS anchor, journalist and television host will headline a tribute to Walter Cronkite at the 3rd Annual Awards Ceremony.  Clooney joined with two presidents, CBS royalty, Mickey Hart, Jimmy Buffet and others to pay tribute to “the most trusted man in America” at the 2009 CBS Memorial Service at Lincoln Center.

Vineyard seasonal resident Jeffrey Kramer, Executive Producer at CBS Network Television and CBS Studios Inc. will introduce Cronkite’s daughter Kathy who will present the Awards.  “Walter Cronkite symbolized the very best of Martha’s Vineyard,” said Kramer. “An avid sailor, an active tennis player, an environmentalist, a philanthropist and generous supporter of Island organizations. I fondly remember when he received the Institute’s Community Hero Award in 2000.”

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Vineyard youth Shavanae Anderson will receive the Youth Award. Anderson filmed and co-produced the video Passing the Torch in honor of Amnesty International’s 50th Anniversary with Harry Belafonte, Rose Styron, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and others.  It was premiered at the 2011 Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival.

Walter Cronkite Awards Ceremony takes place on Thursday, August 2nd at the in Edgartown from 5 pm – 6 pm. A reception immediately follows hosted by Kim and Drew Conway whose waterfront home is across from the Edgartown Yacht Club where Cronkite sailed.  The Conway’s have invited the captains of industry to join with them to pay tribute to Cronkite and support Vineyard youth by launching the Walter Cronkite Scholarship and the , a project of the Stone Soup Leadership Institute.   

“We care about Martha’s Vineyard and its future,” said Drew Conway speaking on behalf of his friends and colleagues.  “Many consider this to be their summer home. Some summered on the Island as children. We want to preserve it as a special place, for their children and their grandchildren.  We want to build bridges with our children and the Island’s children. We’re pleased to support this very special event and the Martha’s Vineyard Youth Leadership Initiative.”


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