Fred Rogers died ten years ago today. This website didn’t exist back then, but if it did I’m sure there would have been some heavy memorializing around here of the man we all came to know and love as Mr. Rogers. So allow us to do a little of that today.
A Presbyterian minister, Rogers’ life in television began when he, disappointed in the quality of shows for children on television, started a show for kids on a Pittsburgh-area public TV station. In short, he sought to use television as a vehicle to get children to love themselves.
“I went into television because I hated it so, and I thought there’s some way of using this fabulous instrument to nurture those who would watch and listen,” he once told CNN in an interview. “The whole idea is to look at the television camera and present as much love as you possibly could to a person who might feel that he or she needs it.”
In 1963, Rogers moved to Canada where he developed a show for Canadian public television. In 1968, he brought Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood to the United States, where it remained on the air for over three decades. A vegetarian who never smoke or drank, the sight and sound of Rogers singing his show’s theme song still has the power to transform you to another place and time.
Who can forget the time he testified before Congress in 1969, explaining the importance of his show to a congressman who’d never seen it before. He read a poem and made the congressman cry and essentially won a $20 million grant for PBS single-handedly.
And his acceptance speech after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1997 Emmys remains one of the greatest awards show speeches ever given. It still brings tears to my eyes.
The man was a goddamn saint on earth. Few people in world history have touched more lives more profoundly. Fred Rogers’ birthday should be a national holiday. Hopefully he’s resting in peace.
UPDATE: Commenter “Matchstick” reminded me about a profile Tom Junod did on Rogers for Esquire years ago. It’s definitely worth giving your time to read. And as an added bonus, here’s an interview Junod did with NPR at the time of Rogers’ death.
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No comment I can write can do this man’s legacy justice.
I understand I’m 30 years old and in college so I should expect that there are people who don’t have a clue who Mr. Rodgers is, but that didn’t stop me from not believing there were people in my Comm class who didn’t know who he was. They asked why we were talking about some creepy old man..I almost punched them all in the face.
A few got away.
Don’t worry. We’ll help you track them down.
He is my personal hero and the paradigm a truly decent human being. And, the Mr. Rogers PBS remix is awesome. [video.pbs.org]
Mr. Rogers was filming a segment for his show in Penn Station in NYC one afternoon while I was there. During a break I went up to say hi and melted like butter when he started talking to me as if I was one of his oldest friends. I turned around to leave and saw throngs of people in their 30s walk up to him and be treated the same way. He was truly a special human being.
If you can find the Tom Junod article on Mr. Rogers, “Can You Say Hero?” he actually writes about that segment in Penn Station.
My mother is a retired nursery school teacher who loves Mr. Rogers, so back in the early 90s when my oldest brother was going to Pitt he went to a local bookstore where Mr. Rogers was signing books to get one for her. He was in line for hours. There was a man walking around, talking to people in line and when he go to my brother, they spoke for a few minutes when my brother recognized his voice, it was Mr. McFeely who toured with Mr. Rogers. When he finally got up to the front of the line, he realized why it was taking so long. Mr. Rogers took the time to talk to every person in line, answered their questions, asked questions of his own and never rushed anyone along.
I still have the article from the paper in 1997, laminated and hanging on my fridge, about Mr. Rogers getting his lifetime achievement award. I was in college at the time studying broadcasting and I looked to him and what he said in his acceptance speech to remind me why I chose that major.
Easy to say that they don’t make TV like that anymore. He’s one of the rare entertainers that no amount of awards or tributes could repay him for all the positive things he did for people.
It’s really sad that my kids won’t ever get to watch him. They think Dora the Explorer is a role model.
Hey Leapin_Lizards,
[www.amazon.com]
It’s worth it.
I’m just about as cynical as they come; whenever people build someone up as “such a great guy” I usually have my doubts as to whether they’re really that good of a person. With Mr. Rogers I’ve never really had those doubts because every single person who interacted with him seems to have nothing but positive things to say.
In high school I wrote a speech about Mr. Rogers and won the state speech tournament with it. I emailed the address listed on PBS’s page for his show, saying how much I respected him and his work, and asked if it would be possible to visit the studio in Pittsburgh since we would be competing in the national debate/speech tournament there (I was Queen of the Nerds). I got an email back from Mr. Rogers himself. While they weren’t doing any tours, he thanked me for my compliments and wrote, “Remember, Sarah, no matter how many awards or prizes you win, you’re special, just because you’re you.”
It’s necessary to add, as always, Tom Junod’s “Can You Say Hero?” profile from Esquire. Required reading and still best magazine article I’ve ever read.
[www.thedqtimes.com]
One of the best pieces of journalism ever written.
I’m serious. If you haven’t read this, do so now.
I always wanted have a neighbor just like him.
May he rest in peace
He lived in my grandparent’s neighborhood, and I think may have gone to their church. I will never forget walking down the street with my grandfather as he pointed him out to me.
I have never been more starstruck than that moment. Even more than the time I walked by the Fonz in NYC and the time I talked to center for the Patriots for like 15 minutes in a bar.
No way more than the fonz
if i watched those videos i’d become a goddamn wreck.
Probably apocryphal, but wasn’t there some story about Mr. Rogers having his car stolen out of the PBS lot, and it happened to make the evening news that night. The next day, the car was back in the lot with a note from the thieves apologizing profusely, saying “If we’d known it was your car, Mr. Rogers, we never would’ve touched it.”
I remember my Dad joking about how he was a grown man playing with toys while we all watched his show.
The second and third videos there were exactly what I was hoping you’d post.
Nice work, champ.
That second video is one of the coolest things I’ve ever watched. He made the senator lose his cynicism within 30 seconds of starting to talk. Amazing.
I don’t have a joke or anything, he really was the coolest guy ever. End of story.
My grandfather was a puppeteer in the Allentown, PA area for over 40 years. When my grandfather was just getting started in the early 60′s, Mr. Rogers was also working on establishing himself (as mentioned in the article), but had a little name recognition in Pennsylvania.
At some point during this time, my grandfather got a postcard from Mr. Rogers. He’d heard about my grandfather and the postcard thanked him for his dedication to working with kids and making them happy. It basically ended with “Keep up the good work and God bless.”
That postcard is still framed, hanging on my grandparent’s wall, and you’re goddamn right I’m taking it when the time comes.
Having spent extensive time in Bucks County it’s crazy how the lingo in Allentown is so striking when it comes to hand jobs and blessings.
I hope Eddie Murphy is ashamed of himself.
What do you mean I can’t take off my sweater? I’M HOT!!
Dude killed 134 Germans with his sniper rifle.
I know he wasn’t a sniper in the military.
He just really hated all those blue-eyed-blonde asshole shoppers at the outlet malls in Orlando.
And that makes him a TRUE American hero.
He was so calm and chill and in control of himself and his emotions, it used to freak me out as a kid. The truth was I needed more of him in my life.
A friend of mine once dated a (very nice) guy who nearly ran over the then-alive-but-still-old Mr Rogers as he crossed a small neighborhood street. True story.
I was hoping you’d link to that second video and you did. I’ve never seen anyone so calmly and perfectly use his words to change the mind of an antagonistic hard ass into the polar opposite. Just beautiful.
Take it from an eternally pleasant optimist like I’m not, the only two people I have ever known who have had very public lives without any hint of scandal or strangeness are Jimmy Stewart and this motherfucker.
Pop a zit on a hooker’s ass and dedicate the tiny explosion to these men, our betters.
“Fred Rogers’ birthday should be a national holiday.”
Well I can’t create it because I ain’t a yankee, but Cajun Boy, why not create the petition?
[petitions.whitehouse.gov]
Zombie fans should know he started the career of many Pittsburgh area visual artists including George A. Romero. Makes the clip of Mr. Rogers getting his tonsils out that much more entertaining.
He also once won a rap battle against Mr. T. Posthumously, it seems.
[www.youtube.com]
Mr. Rodgers is an example of humanity at its finest: someone who is caring, kind, smart and a good person.
Somehow missed this until now. As a native Yinzer who loved and grew up with Mr. Rogers, it’s really f’n cool to see how much everyone my relative age loved him.
Mr. Rogers was the first death of somebody that I didn’t personally know that legitimately made me sad. RIP to a truly great man.
Where did all these onions come from?
Seriously, he was an outstanding human being and the world is better for having him.
On net, Fred Rogers was a positive good for the world. But in real life he was a dick. I know of multiple stories from folks in Pittsburgh of him being a dick.
Jus’ sayin.
Amazing… I’m of course speaking of Tim Robbins’ tuxedo.
So very 1990s. I bet it has velcro somewhere.
That Emmys speech gets me bawling every time I watch it, and I have watched it at least a dozen times.
If you want to watch a documentary about him, I just saw “Mister Rogers and Me,” and I recommend it. [misterrogersandme.com]
Truly a wonderful man. There will never be another one like him.
To this day, it still feels like a family member passed away.