43
Former top shoe salesman featured Weds. night on ‘CBS Evening News’
Video
If the shoe fits, sell it.
Larry Joltin, 65, lived by that very motto, which earned him accolades beyond his wildest dreams. The former shoe salesman gained national fame when he was featured on an episode of the CBS show “On the Road” with Charles Kuralt in 1983.
Kuralt dubbed Joltin “the official, recognized champion shoe salesman.”
Twenty-five years later, “CBS Evening News” correspondent Steve Hartman revisited Joltin for a segment on the Liberty man Wednesday night during the network news program. The Joltin interview is the third of four Kuralt segments being revisited by Hartman.
“I wanted to do this series in part because we now have a generation of young people who don’t remember Charles Kuralt,” Hartman said. “Kuralt was, and still is, a treasure who shouldn’t ever fade and these are tremendous stories with wonderful new twists ... For those who will be hearing the name for the first time, this will be an education in the nearly lost art of TV storytelling.”
Joltin echoed Hartman’ s sentiments as he recalled his time with Kuralt.
“Charles Kuralt was like a poet,” Joltin said. “He was a wonderful guy.”
Joltin was featured in a 1983 episode focusing on his success as a salesman at Reyers shoe store in Sharon, Pa. He had been named the top shoe salesman in the United States by the National Shoe Retail Association that year.
For the complete story, see Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com.