David Price: “Charles Kuralt was an ambassador for North Carolina. With a crinkled road map and a two-man camera crew, he set out to…”

“Charles Kuralt was an ambassador for North Carolina. With a crinkled road map and a two-man camera crew, he set out to see America. He was a wonderfully gifted storyteller and the story he told was ours. He wanted to showcase the very best of America, not the headlines or the lead stories in the news but the America of ordinary people living extraordinary lives. Charles Kuralt knew that many people report on the mayhem of the world, but he had a more important story to tell. When Walter Cronkite stepped down from anchoring, Charles Kuralt had the opportunity to take the helm but he turned it down so he could continue to see America his way, traveling the forgotten State highways in his rambling RV, stopping in the small country stores to 'sit a spell.' He gave a voice to every American. Interviewing the North Carolina woman who at 104 years old visited nursing homes each week to sing and to bring a smile to tired faces. Or the story of the poor southern family that worked to send all nine kids to college. Charles Kuralt believed these families and their stories were not only 'small town' America, they were the very essence of America. We understand ourselves and each other better because of the work he did among us. An ambassador for North Carolina who made us proud, Charles Kuralt is being honored at this moment at a memorial service at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.”