Goodbye, Neighbor

I spent a lot of time as a child watching Mr. Rogers. I honestly though he was older than 74, and was surprised to hear he was that young.

People like Rogers don't come around too frequently. I'm just glad to have experienced his show... it's unfortunate that my future children won't have the chance.

Todd, thank you for this post about Mr. Rogers. He was someone who had a very positive impact on my childhood, and I think it's very fitting to commemorate him with personal memories. I'm saddened by the loss, probably more so than anyone else whom I haven't met in person.

A 1999 Salon Article

helpful hints for parents at PBS kids

NY Times Obit (free signup required)

I was pretty misty about this yesterday.

As a kid I always wondered about his ritual of coming home, and putting on canvas shoes and his famous cardigan...it seemed wierd, but still very appropriate.

I haven't seen the show in probably 20 years, but I remember two episodes vividly: the one where he pulls a chair into a corner, and pretends that the wall is the control panel of his spaceship, and the one where he visits a crayon factory.

I don't disagree with you basically (hardly: as someone with a child development professional as his life partner, I know only too well how fantastic children's minds are), but you are aware of course that Fred Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister? (cf. his bio as given by his producers, inter alia) Though as far as I can tell, he never practiced as a minister, he certainly had formal training in organized religion. For sure, I'm not suggesting that the implication is that we need more of the religious on television but rather than organized religion (particularly Christianity) pervades our lives in ways that many people may not realize.
Disclosure: I'm more or less a practicing Presbyterian myself, though of a strongly ecumenical bent.

How can anyone forget the crayon factory episode!! It really is amazing how much impact that man has made on my generation. Walking around the office yesterday, I was amazed to hear how many people, including myself, were quite saddened by th enews. In fact, I heard many people singing the famous 'neighbor' song.

I have suddenly realized that this is one man who was happy to quietly sit by and know in his mind that he was helping shape the minds of millions of children.

I fail to see reason that his religious beliefs are to be brought up here. The impact of Fred Rogers has always lain in his ability to cross the space that seperated the child from the TV and bring them into a world of wonder, innocence and growth.

I count it another of his victories that he was able to do this all without ever bringing up his religious beliefs. He never once uttered the word God on his show.

And for the record I am a formerly ordained Methodist Youth Pastor, who is now Eastern Orthodox.

In my granddaddies words,"Bless You".

my favorite part of the show was always mail time and getting to visit some factory that i could hope to work in someday. maybe not the highest aspirations, but hey, who doesn't want to work in a crayon factory!

for some reason the most fascinating part of the show to me was the area of his little loft where the fish were. that area seemed to be less frequented in the show and i guess i always wondered what other cool stuff, such as the traffic lights, he had back there. also inspired me to someday make an elaborate trainset. heh..

as for the religion stuff, i agree that he never really brought religion into it directly. sure religion teaches the samethings you would hear on there. but i don't recall any bible stories.

he wanted to make the world better. being a minister and host of his show were just two seperate ways he found to do so.

I saw a few interviews with him aired tonight from fairly recent years, and what amazed me was that his on-screen persona was almost exactly in line with his actual personality. That man never put up a mask, never played a part -- he was always exactly what he was, and that's why he did so well.

We joked about him - because we loved him.
rip, ole buddy

There are so few people in this world who are genuine, Fred Rogers was one of those people.

What you saw on TV was pretty darn close to the person he really was. Kind, gentle and concerned about the welfare of children.

I'm an Old School PBS kid, raised on big diet of Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers. I remember vividly those times when 'Picture Picture' solved the mystery of how something was made. I also remember those times, sitting in his kitchen, where he would create something out of things I could find in my own kitchen. I am more than sure that lead me to be creative.

In regards to Fred's faith, I think we should consider how his relationship with God influenced his relationship with us.

God bless you Fred. You made a difference in my life.

-k

I was listening to an interview with Rogers on NPR last night. They were asking him about the different spoofs they've done of him.

He said he actually enjoyed Eddie Murphy's spoof of him on Saturday Night Live, and later met him in New York. He said Murphy ran up to him, wrapped his arms around him and exclaimed, "The real Mr. Rogers!"

I was also surprised to hear that before his "I'm Batman!" days, Michael Keaton worked on the production staff of the show.

It's been refreshing to see so many irony-free tributes to this gentle man. Thanks for another.

Though he never pushed his faith, I am 100% certain that who Fred Rogers was flowed directly from it. And so it's not an irrelevant piece of trivia about him. He was a wonderful example of a Christian to those of us who can be so cynical. He will be missed.

First, I echo James's thoughts

Why I mentioned his status as a Presbyterian minister was that Todd said that he

“had a greater role in shaping the moral fiber of multiple generations of children than any religious institution”

My bona fides are sketched in my first comment.

Actually, the show was his primary outlet for ministry; word to Mr. K and James. An interesting article about him from a while back, over here:

http://www.adventistreview.org/2003-1509/story5.html

As a 12 year old child my memorys of mr. rogers are vivid I remember last summer turining on the tv and going "hey, i remember this show" I sat and watched it agian and can remember how nice he was to children their belifes and the fact that even though to adults were little we are the future and i would like to thank mr. rogers for all the ways he helped me and how much he helped all of us and mr.Rogers if there was one guy i never meet that truly deserves to R.I.P its you mr. rogers thanx alot

Mr. Fred Rogers was a true GEM from what I understand. He did indeed fulfill his Christian duties by the way he was in real life and on the show. Fred Rogers showed us important key values in his faith; patience, goodness, and proper ettiquette in all that he protraited. About 300 of his shows will be reruns, and hopefully someone will get the rights to re-air more.

I do hope more children will watch his shows regularly. The Mr. Rogers Show had such a sweet peace about it: The basics that everyone should know!

God certainly blessed this man and his ministry for a reason. God also blessed Fred Rogers short lived illness.
...Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. [1 Corinthians 15:54-56]

You can say that you do not believe, but when you watch the deathbeds as I have seen, the proof is there. Those that struggle on their deathbeds are in the reality of crying out to God for victory -vs- those that believe and do all they can to fulfull God's will in their lives.