Last night marked the end of the Katie Couric era on the CBS Evening News. There were no tears, or grand speeches. (Alessandra Stanley of the New York Times called it "terse".). Instead, she said goodbye with a five minute montage of some of her most memorable moments, set to the what sounded like the opening chords of Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run," Coldplay's "Viva La Vida," and the Beatles' "In My Life." And then she said some nice words. And then it ended.

A more personal and emotional side was on display in the final two-part post in Couric's online notebook. Here, in part one, she thanks her audience.

And in part two, she pays tribute to CBS legengs Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, and speaks candidly about how history will remember her stint in the anchor's chair. "My sign-off won't be in the history books like Walter's" she says, "but I'm grateful my sign-on may be."

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Ray Gustini