I Am From The Neighborhood.

This blog has talked about him before but with the release of "Won't You Be My Neighbor" this summer, a revisit is in order.

Having been born in 1968, I consider myself a resident of Mister Rogers Neighborhood.

I hold Fred Rogers very near and dear to my heart.  In fact, I consider him a relative of sorts, having had formative years during the time when his show, Sesame Street and Electric Company reigned supreme on Public Television.  It can be argued that every children's program on Public Television if not every one of them is indirectly related to that era of TV.

He appeared in my world twice a day, in the morning and the afternoon and he was a grown up I could relate to.  He talked to me, and not "at" me.  When I was very young he was less than a mile away (I lived the first 5 years of my life in Pittsburgh), and when I crossed into the years where I was aging out of his programs target audience, he was 900+ miles away but it felt as if he was in the room with me.

But he was still my neighbor, and my friend

I learned how a grown up drove a bus through his adventures on his show.  I met police officers, firefighters and people who delivered the mail.  Ordinary people doing ordinary jobs that kids saw every day. His show, like Sesame Street and Electric Company, were my generation's video games and internet.  Not only did they serve as a babysitter for us, but a means of learning outside of the classroom as well.

In the end his program, above everything else, relatable to kids watching it. 

Few people walk the earth today with the imagination and decency that Fred Rogers did.  The only other person who comes close in that description would be Jim Henson, who preceded Rogers in death by 13 years.  Henson's genius though, was largely behind the scenes whereas Fred Rogers put himself out there for the kids and that is what made him different, or as he sang in nearly every show, special.

His squareness made him an easy target for comedians who mocked him like Eddie Murphy and the late Robin Williams.  I do not think ill of those guys because it was comedy and not personal attacks on his character.  At least I didn't see it that way.  Hell, I even laughed at it at the time.  But through the jokes at his expense the people making the jokes had a healthy respect for him, and if it bothered him he never let it show.

Fred Rogers had a humanity that is sadly lacking in this day and age.  His optimism would be laughed at and mocked these days, as he believed that everyone had the capacity to be good and decent and he did his best to promote that.  

I remember back in the early 90s he appeared on a late night talk show and he was asked, hypothetically, how he would solve the urban gang problem if ti were up to him.  As if a white man who was famous for a children's television program could answer that question.

He said very simply, "People have to learn to be nice to each other again.".

It was brief, and it was profound.  It was, of course, ignored, but if only people would listen maybe the world would be a better place.

Fred Rogers was my friend.  I celebrate and defend the man's legacy because I am part of it.  This world needs more people like him.