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Mr. Rogers Is Dead.

13:20 / 27.02.03

For lack of a better phrase- "This sucks." Mr. Rogers was a good man. A great man, actually. If I had a flag I'd put it to half-mast today.

20:15 / 27.02.03

I salute him.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

20:29 / 27.02.03

Who's Mr Rogers?

Foust is SO authentic

20:32 / 27.02.03

*gets ready to shoot the messenger*

Too bad. This is one celebrity death that I... well, I won't mourn, but I will think about it more than once.

Mr Rogers was a fixture of childhood television for what seemed like 2/3 of the 20th century.

21:34 / 27.02.03

I told my brother the news a few hours ago, and his response was "Well, at least we still have Mr. Dress-up." Mr. Dress-Up passed away over a year ago. My brother is now in his room with the lights out, curled up in the fetal position.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

21:36 / 27.02.03

So, was he like Brian Cant? Or more like Humpty off of Playschool?

22:05 / 27.02.03

Google tells me he was on American PBS. He presented stuff like "How to deal with scary news", the first online obit begins like this:

"Fred Rogers began his daily half hour with the children of America with this musical invitation to become his neighbor. Every day, Fred would enter his living room set, hang up his jacket, put on an old wool, zipper sweater, replace his leather oxfords with worn tennis shoes and settle in for a chat with his television audience. He talked directly to children about things of interest or concern to them. He spoke, calmly and slowly, using simple language that often sounded silly or boring to adults. But the secret of Mr. Rogers' deep and enduring appeal to young children was that they understood him and they believed that he understood and cared about them."

So maybe more Brian Cant? Sorry I can't remember Humpty from Playschool. Perhaps a bit like Max from the Tweenies doing the safety information slot while looking like Val Doonican? I guess we need a Mr Rogers for the UK.

I salute him too, RIP Fred.

Nietzsch E. Coyote

08:52 / 28.02.03

holy shit Mr Rogers and Mr Dress-up?

fetal position it is then. I'm going to bed.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

09:07 / 28.02.03

Think yourselves lucky, Americans. You never had to deal with the passing of Rod Hull.

15:16 / 28.02.03

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood
a beautiful day for a neighbor
would you be mine?

could you be mine?

-----

He also had a segment of the show that was all puppets. They were obviously puppets, but that was sort of the point. Imagination, you know.
There was a King and Queen, and a cat that would have dialogue like this: "Meow meow meow violin, meow meow. Meow, your meow-jesty. Meow play meow song?"

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He got flack a couple years ago (I think Bush I was president then) for making a video about sexual abuse. He thought it was important, but it made moral arbiters feel uneasy. Go figure.

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He graduated from Rollins College, near Orlando, Fl., with a major in music. He was also a devout Presbyterian. While working full time as a TV producer in Pennsylvania, he took classes at the the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development, and was ordained a minister in 1963. His mission was to cultivate kindness in children and to work on nurturing families through the mass media. That year, he was invited to Canada to create a new show: MisteRogers. He moved back to Pennsylvania in 1966, and took elements of the show with him. By 1968, it was being aired nationally as MisteRoger's Neighborhood, and then Mister Roger's Neighborhood.

It won broadcasting awards in every category for which it was eligible.

More here.

-----

It's a neighborly day in this beauty wood,
a neighborly day for a beauty....

would you be mine?

could you be mine?

Matthew Fluxington

15:25 / 28.02.03

Fred Rogers was a genuinely great guy, and probably the finest and most thoughtful children's broadcaster this world will ever see.

There's an excellent This American Life segment from a little while back in which contributor (and Found Magazine head honcho) Davy Rothbart visits Mr. Rogers, whom he met as a child on his show. I recommend checking that episode out.

Foust is SO authentic

15:25 / 28.02.03

I always used to wonder why my dad didn't immediately change shirts upon getting home from work.

Matthew Fluxington

15:27 / 28.02.03

Oh wait... for the realaudio archive, go here and scroll down to the May 11th episode titled "Neighbors".

15:33 / 28.02.03

Aw, Fuck.

I don't have anything clever to say... he was great, and I always remember looking forward to the puppets.

The year I graduated High School, our yearbook staff wrote him a letter thanking him for insipring us and generally being a right-on guy (well, not in those words, but you know.) He wrote back the coolest letter, and it was printed verbatim in the yearbook and we were all psyched that he didn't just send back a form letter like any other celebrity would.

Great guy.

otherjerry & the unworkable siblings

18:09 / 28.02.03

i'll never forget the film of the crayon factory. that was so cool.

13:41 / 07.03.03

A belated tribute to the man from the wacky clip-art talking heads over at Get Your War On.

A subtly skillful and oddly moving little piece of work, this: the silent panels pack a real emotional punch.

13:27 / 07.05.03

From Filer's Files #19 -- 2003 Skywatch Investigations.

ASTEROID IS NAMED IN MISTER ROGERS' HONOR

Fred Rogers, creator and host of public television's "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.'' Rogers died Feb. 27 at age 74 and in his in his honor an asteroid "Misterrogers,'' formerly known as No. 26858, honors "Mister Rogers touched the lives of millions. I doubt that there are many who have not been touched in some way by the life and work of Fred Rogers,'' said John G. Radzilowicz, director of the Henry Buhl Jr. Planetarium & Observatory at the Carnegie Science Center. Rogers produced a planetarium show for preschoolers called ``The Sky Above Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.'' Asteroid now called "Misterrogers'' moves between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, and is about 218 million miles from the sun, which it takes about 3 1/2 years to orbit. He was a great man who will be missed.

22:05 / 07.05.03

Very sad. Never seen him, other than on a MR rogeers LP cover (dont ask WHAT was on it!) But from what i am led to believe, he taught family values to my sister in law like her own family never did.
Rest in Peace.