Mister Rogers: Invisible, imperishable, good stuff.

A decent man in an indecent age. March 20, 1928 - February 27, 2003.

The words "invisible, imperishable, good stuff," in this blog's headline aren't mine. They were said by Fred Rogers, a trailblazer for public television, and a man who influenced millions of children, and their parents, in positive ways with his long-running show Mister Roger's Neighborhood. Many people remember him as as one of the major influences of their early childhoods. Read a few of his words here:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/32106.Fred_Rogers

Did you watch Mister Rogers as a child? I was unsure if my eldest daughter had, so I asked her in an email. I thought perhaps she'd watched Sesame Street and not Mister Rogers, but she replied "Of course! I watched both of them, but Mister Rogers taught me how to be a human being." Ditto, for millions of children in America, and the world. I did not pay much attention to Mister Rogers until my children began watching it. I was surprised with his gentle spirit and simple way of explaining complex things to children. Things like having feelings, and caring for people.

I didn't watch Mister Rogers as a child. I had never heard of Mister Rogers until I was fourteen years old. He seemed weird with his odd songs, his love of sweaters, and use of puppets. A little bit of Mister Rogers went a long ways. He was too nice and too different from the rest of what was airing on television. By the time Mister Rogers aired I had moved on to other things. I thought I was too old for him. Even Johnny Quest, Leave it to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Dennis the Menace, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, The Wonderful World of Disney, and Candid Camera, had become boring. Sesame Street was just beginning. 

I grew up in what is called 'The Golden Age' of American sitcoms. We three youngest children watched Green Acres, Bewitched, The Beverly Hillbillies, Star Trek, Gilligan's Island, Bonanza, Love Boat, Get Smart, and The Dating Game. The Outer Limits, and The Twilight Zone held my attention. My parents regularly watched Hee Haw, Hollywood Squares, and Jeopardy, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

As a child, given the options of cartoons on a Saturday morning or educational shows, we always chose the cartoons. The only exception to this was The Wonderful World of Disney, or Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, but these were shows that aired in the evenings. Cartoons were all that mattered on Saturday mornings. It was also the golden age of cartoons. Cartoons without violence were dull. Cartoon characters died in every imaginable way, but being cartoons they were immortal. I memorized Bug Bunny's comic lines, and other cartoon icons. My mind was silly putty.

Rogers said publicly that he didn't like cartoons because of the violence they taught children. It was an age where Vietnam was televised, and the news carried stories about racial riots. Death was the main topic of the news media. Shows about violence prevailed. If someone wasn't dying on Perry Mason, or one of the many cowboy western shows, something in TV-Land was amiss. 

Writing this blog I learned things I didn't know about Mister Rogers, such as the fact that he was a vegetarian. I knew he was an ordained minister, but I didn't know he took a swim in the nude very day. He was a bit quirky. I also didn't know his show began in Canada, or that he was born in Pennsylvania, not far from the city of Pittsburgh. He was married, he had children, and he was a great example of what it is to be a loving human being.

I don't always have confidence I did the best I could do with my children. Watching videos of Mr. Rogers today I got teary eyed. He cared about children, and I like what he had to say.

If Mister Rogers didn't get into Heaven, nobody is getting in. I tend to think that what we saw on TV was how he was in real life when he wasn't in front of the camera. In 1969 he testified before congress in order to get more funding for public television. http://video.pbs.org/video/1428499965/ As a result of his testimony, the budget of PBS increased from 9 Million to 22 Million dollars.

His show debuted in Canada in 1966, and lasted until 2001. That's a lot of years of caring for children, and I think he would say it was his Christian ministry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rogers

He died of stomach cancer on February 27, 2003, less than a month before he turned age 75 (birthday: March 20, 1928). But his legacy will endure for many years to come. I cannot wear a button up sweater without thinking of Mister Rogers, and his theme song still plays in my head.

Mr. Rogers’ song goes, "Won't you be, please won't you be, won't you be my neighbor?” We can still learn a lot from Mister Rogers, can’t we, neighbor?