MIster Rogers Goes to Washington

March 10, 5:20 PMPop Culture News ExaminerAndy Williamson

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FRED ROGERS

For years, if someone brought up the subject of Mister Rogers and his legendary neighborhood, I would place tongue firmly in cheek and pose the question, "Do you know why I like Mister Rogers?"

Answer: "Because he likes me just the way I am."

I also used to add he was the first person to teach me about the Neighborhood of Make Believe ... only now I don't get there by Trolley Trolley.

I'm kidding -- but after discussing this remarkable man with a friend, I mentioned I'd seen a documentary about him recently, Fred Rogers - America's Favorite Neighbor, hosted by fellow Pittsburgher and former Mister Rogers' Neighborhood stagehand, Michael Keaton.  Highly recommended -- check it out.

In this documentary, it was reported that in 1969, a 20 million dollar grant for PBS and children's programming, proposed by Lyndon Johnson, was in jeopardy.  Blame Nixon.  Mister Rogers went to the U.S. Senate, and faced off with infamously gruff Senator John Pastore.  What transpired gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.  Check out the video below.

When remembering this gentle man -- one of the few voices of sanity in my 1970's youth -- I often wonder who will fill the void left by him for this present generation of children?  (Rogers died of stomach cancer in 2003.)  Is there a place in this techno-savvy, digitally-enhanced, internet-fueled, rapid-fire-edited, video-game-crazed world for such simple-yet-profound messages as "You are unique," "You've made this day special by just your being you," or "I like you just the way you are"?  For many of us, these affirmations were the ONLY positive messages we ever received as children.  How sad is that?

While Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was on the air (1968-2001), it touched countless millions of lives without fanfare, special effects, or even a decent budget.  Here was simply a man of integrity wearing sneakers and a sweater, talking in earnest to children about their feelings.  Sounds so quaint and simple it's almost a joke.  But if you consider many of the problems facing our world today, and trace those problems back to their logical source, you come right back to the issues that Fred Rogers tackled head on, quietly and sincerely.

If a child's psyche is not nurtured, if his sense of self-worth is not addressed, if his feelings are not validated, if we turn a pre-occupied eye away from him when he desperately needs just a simple hand on his shoulder ... we are damned.

Mister Rogers knew it.  And now so do you.  Think about it.

For more information about Fred Rogers, go to Wikipedia, where you will find the following story:

On the eve of the announcement that Mister Rogers' Neighborhood would cease production of new episodes, TV Guide interviewed Rogers and led the story with an anecdote.  Apparently, Rogers had been driving the same car for years, an old second-hand Impala.  Then it was stolen from its parking spot near the WQED studio.  Rogers filed a police report, the story was picked up by local news outlets, and general shock swept across town.  Within 48 hours, the car was back in the spot where he left it, along with a note saying, "If we'd known it was yours, we never would have taken it!"

How's that for positive influence -- even thieves respect him!  LOL

This article was originally published at The Wordslinger.