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I always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you

This American Life, May 11, 2001:
Act One. Mr. Rothbart's Neighborhood. When he was just a kid, Davy Rothbart and his family visited the most famous neighbor in America -- Mr. Rogers -- at his summer cottage on Nantucket. Two decades later, as an adult, Davy went back for another visit with Mr. Rogers. This time he brought stories from his own neighborhood, stories of neighborly conflict and distrust -- to see what kind of advice Mr. Rogers could give him. (20 minutes)

Posted by Adam on February 27, 2003 9:35 AM |

Comments

We don't blog so tight around here at present, but I knew adam would be on top of the Mr. Rogers thing.

I didn't watch him when I was growing up, but some of my friends did, and I always saw that they benefited from a glowing element to the program that I could not grasp. Perhaps I have no soul.

My gf in law school turned me on to the joy of combining marijuana with children's television. Muppet Babies was our favorite as a couple, but when it was Mr. Rogers time my gf became glued to the set, watching him with big eyes, answering his little rhetorical questions about nature and her day. Again, I recognized the glow, even though I could not experience it directly.

So it was without hesitation that I immersed my own daughter in Mr. Rogers. We watched it together every day, for years. (The princess girl who lived in the puppet village was kind of hot, I always thought. Think Rogers was copping a little mcfeely on the side? But I digress.) This morning, I gingerly broke the news of Rogers's demise to my little one, now almost 12. Her reply: "Dad, I never watched Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. You're confusing him with Pee Wee Herman."

PBS: Talking with children about Fred Rogers' death.

Posted by: xorie | February 27, 2003 10:29 AM

Mister Rogers' own site has some relevant stuff.

Posted by: nedlog | February 27, 2003 11:52 AM

In the beginning it was a fight. I would come home depressed and surly and say, "Let's watch 'Masters of the Universe,' " a violent cartoon depicting scantily clad folks thwarting the evil overlord Skeletor. But the kids preferred Mr. Rogers. So we battled. They would hide the remote control or stand in front of the TV until I said, "Does daddy need to go get Mr. Mace again?"
Robert Kirby, Mr. Rogers a Man of Goodness, Mr. Rogers No Skeletor -- Thankfully

Posted by: xopie | March 1, 2003 10:56 AM

Fred Rogers of television's Mister Rogers' Neighborhood is rumored to have been a sniper, with even his penchant for long-sleeved cardigans ascribed to his hiding tattoos from the eyes of curious little tykes. Like Denver, Rogers never served in any branch of the military. He is an ordained minister in the United Presbyterian Church. (Snopes)

Posted by: xxxie | March 1, 2003 11:23 AM

Perhaps no story speaks more about the depths of Mister Rogers' appeal, about his pervasive grace, than one he recounted in an Esquire magazine profile a few years ago. It seems that Fred Rogers wanted to meet Koko, the gorilla who was taught to communicate using American Sign Language. Koko had watched Mister Rogers on television. When they first encountered each other, the 280-pound gorilla instantly enfolded Fred Rogers, all 143 pounds of him, in a massive embrace.

And then? And then Koko took off Mister Rogers's shoes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13688-2003Feb27.html

Posted by: xyxie | March 1, 2003 11:27 AM

Mr. Rogers is the master of my Universe. I'm so sorry I'll never get to be on his show.

No humor intended.

Posted by: anonymous coward | March 1, 2003 9:38 PM

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