15 Reasons Mister Rogers Was the Best Neighbor Ever

[Ben Lahnger]

15 Reasons Mister Rogers Was the Best Neighbor Ever

In this cynical, 24-hour-news-cycle, appearance-conscious, shallow age, it's not hip or cool to admit it ... but I loved Mister Rogers.

A long time ago his parents bought a thing called a TV, and all young Fred Rogers saw on it was people hatefully throwing pies at each other (oh, if that were only the worst thing on TV now.) He disliked what he saw tremendously ... (QUOTE) "but he believed, right then, that he was strong enough to enter into battle with that--that machine, that medium--and to wrestle with it until it yielded to him, until the ground touched by its blue shadow became hallowed and this thing called television came to be used 'for the broadcasting of grace through the land.' It would not be easy, no--for in order to win such a battle, he would have to forbid himself the privilege of stopping, and whatever he did right he would have to repeat, as though he were already living in eternity. And so it was that the puppets he employed on (the television show) The Children's Corner would be the puppets he employed forty-four years later, and so it was that once he took off his jacket and his shoes... well, he was Mister Rogers for good." (/QUOTE)**

For anything truly great to happen, there needs to be a long obedience in the same direction. - Neitze

Fred Rogers created "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" and produced 865 episodes over the course of 31 years. Imagine spending 31 years of your life committed to one cause. That half hour show did so much good for children ... well, it's incalculable, really. I consider his life's accomplishment and think most of us with our scrabbling, selfish, intolerant lives can't begin to compare.

The world was a better place when Fred Rogers was producing his show, and it's a little sadder since he's been gone. So it made my day today when I stumbled across 15 Reasons Mister Rogers Was the Best Neighbor Ever on the internet.

Here are just a couple of the reasons, but I encourage you to click on that link to read them all and to read the article I quoted from above (link posted below):

1. Even Koko the Gorilla Loved Him

Most people have heard of Koko, the Stanford-educated gorilla who could speak about 1000 words in American Sign Language, and understand about 2000 in English. What most people don’t know, however, is that Koko was an avid Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood fan. As Esquire reported, when Fred Rogers took a trip out to meet Koko for his show, not only did she immediately wrap her arms around him and embrace him, she did what she’d always seen him do onscreen: she proceeded to take his shoes off!

2. He Made Thieves Think Twice

According to a TV Guide profile, Fred Rogers drove a plain old Impala for years. One day, however, the car was stolen from the street near the TV station. When Rogers filed a police report, the story was picked up by every newspaper, radio and media outlet around town. Amazingly, within 48 hours the car was left in the exact spot where it was taken from, with an apology on the dashboard. It read, “If we’d known it was yours, we never would have taken it.”

4. He Saved Both Public Television and the VCR

Strange but true. When the government wanted to cut Public Television funds in 1969, the relatively unknown Mister Rogers went to Washington. Almost straight out of a Capra film, his 5-6 minute testimony on how TV had the potential to give kids hope and create more productive citizens was so simple but passionate that even the most gruff politicians were charmed. While the budget should have been cut, the funding instead jumped from $9 to $22 million. Rogers also spoke to Congress, and swayed senators into voting to allow VCR’s to record television shows from the home. It was a cantankerous debate at the time, but his argument was that recording a program like his allowed working parents to sit down with their children and watch shows as a family.

5. He Might Have Been the Most Tolerant American Ever

Mister Rogers seems to have been almost exactly the same off-screen as he was onscreen. As an ordained Presbyterian minister, and a man of tremendous faith, Mister Rogers preached tolerance first. Whenever he was asked to castigate non-Christians or gays for their differing beliefs, he would instead face them and say, with sincerity, “God loves you just the way you are.” Often this provoked ire from fundamentalists.

6. He Was Genuinely Curious About Others

Mister Rogers was known as one of the toughest interviews because he’d often befriend reporters, asking them tons of questions, taking pictures of them, compiling an album for them at the end of their time together, and calling them after to check in on them and hear about their families. He wasn’t concerned with himself, and genuinely loved hearing the life stories of others. Amazingly, it wasn’t just with reporters. Once, on a fancy trip up to a PBS exec’s house, he heard the limo driver was going to wait outside for 2 hours, so he insisted the driver come in and join them (which flustered the host). On the way back, Rogers sat up front, and when he learned that they were passing the driver’s home on the way, he asked if they could stop in to meet his family. According to the driver, it was one of the best nights of his life—the house supposedly lit up when Rogers arrived, and he played jazz piano and bantered with them late into the night. Further, like with the reporters, Rogers sent him notes and kept in touch with the driver for the rest of his life.


I'm sure this post will encourage some sarcasm and some cynicism on the part of some readers, but no jokes or insults could sway me from the belief that Fred Rogers did a lot of good in the world. Remembering him inspires me to want to do something better with my life.

**Article quoted at top: Can you say..."Hero"?

[Apathy's_Child]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXEuEUQIP3Q

[Ben Lahnger]

Originally Posted by Apathy's_Child

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXEuEUQIP3Q

Apathy's_Child, thank you very much for that! (-;

[Alan]

I watched Mr. Rogers before I even knew English, and he's the main reason I learned English before my peers. I wouldn't be who I am if it weren't for him. I love Mr. Rogers.

[Ben Lahnger]

"The best teacher in the world is someone who loves what he or she does, and just loves it in front of you." - Fred Rogers

[Duane]

Mister Rogers is the best.

[Angelic Dissonance]

I cried when he died.

[Needlefeet]

Who?

messagetooshort

[Kalitrima]

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. . .

I have that song on my computer, and I either get giggly or teary whenever I hear it. It's my mom's ringtone, too. That man is my childhood, and I sobbed when he died. I know, I'm a baby, but it's like hearing that the voice of Mickey Mouse died.

. . . On that thought, did you know that Mickey's voice actor was married to Minnie's voice actress?