Some might wonder what my CD "4:20 Report" with the Talkin' Roots Crew has to do with Walter Cronkite... Truth be known,it could be said that Walter Cronkite was as big an influence on its inception as much as anyone.

Beginning on November 22,1963,while in 3rd grade,it was my childhood aim to become President of the United States. Much of that desire grew out of being glued to the television as Walter Cronkite reported on the events of that traumatic time. My mother,a political and Civil Rights Activist of the day encouraged me greatly. However she also had these words of wisdom. "In case you dont become President"she would say," you should discover another vocation in case you dont make it".

Starting in 3rd Grade,watching the news became a daily ritual,and when Walter Cronkite returned a drawing I made of him with a letter and autographed picture of himself,I knew if I couldnt become President,I wanted to be a journalist and reporter like Walter Cronkite.

I think what it was that drew me to him was his being present as history was in the making..Whether it was the Assasinations, Vietnam,the social upheavals of the '60s,or the Space Program,somehow Cronkite found his way to be in the middle of it,and I knew somehow if I wasnt making history myself,I wanted to be where it was being made.

My first writings were of a journalistic bent. I wrote columns for the Watkinson (High School) and Alaska Methodist University newspapers. In Denver in the 80's I had a freelance column published.

The last thing I expected in life was to write plays,and other performance material. At the time I wrote my first theater piece,given that l had veered away from that original course I had set out for myself,all I knew was that I was living out a countercultural existence (An existence I was first made aware of through Cronkite's network and CBS Reports),and that reggae music was making a profound impact in my life..

One of the things that drew me to the music of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh was that it seemed to me they were reporting on life as they saw it.
As anyone that has seen or heard my work knows,it is full of social and political commentary.
I was afforded an opportunity behind a newsdesk as the newscaster for the Minneapolis Cable Program The Hemp Channel

The 4:20 Report taken as a whole ( I feel that has to be pointed out in this day and age of downloads) was a concept CD,set in a kind of newsroom with the Talkin' Roots Crew acting as musical correspondents,and myself as the Anchorman.

..and That's The Way It Is. Rest In Peace Walter Cronkite