"CBS Evening News" director ending 51-year CBS career at the top
Behind the curtain of this broadcast
sits a wizard named Eric Shapiro. For as
long as any of us can remember, he's been pulling the levers here -- making the
“CBS Evening News” look like the simple, effortless program that it isn't.
Eric said, "This really is the only job I have ever had."
Eric started here in 1963 -- in the CBS mail room, of all places. He was the kid who delivered mail to the “Evening News with Walter Cronkite.” And it was then and there that Eric first saw legendary director Don Hewitt in action.
"This charismatic
character who starts barking out commands, and I looked at him and I thought,
'That's what I want to do. I want that job,'" said Eric.
It was lofty goal for a lowly mail
boy, but Eric eventually pulled it off -- much better than he pulled off that ‘70s mustache.
Over the years, he has directed coverage of 11 presidential elections, four papal elections, and an untold number of once-in-a-lifetime events.
But Eric himself never became old news. Even now at 68 -- while many people his age
can't even dial a smartphone -- Eric has somehow stayed ahead of all this
technology.
Eric explained, "I would rather
leave wanting more than leave disappointed that I should have left
sooner."
And there's the rub -- for any true great who goes out on top.
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