Who is Fred Rogers?
The man is full of surprises. • Known as one of the softest-spoken people on television, Fred Rogers’ voice nonetheless resounded over radio and television when he spoke to parents’ and children’s concerns about war in the Persian Gulf. • To many, he seems a most ordinary sort of man, but he took the extraordinary step of appearing on Russia’s longest-running children’s television program … and later welcoming that program’s host into the Neighborhood. • His message is one of respect for fellow humans, but caustic comics Jay Leno, Johnny Carson, and Joan Rivers have all invited him to appear with them on The Tonight Show. • His personal style is traditional, even conservative, but The Village Voice cited him as the only valid father figure on television. • In his television series a measured minute passes in silence, but in today’s fast-paced world, the series is more important than ever, as a calming voice in an ever increasingly raucous medium. As Lady Elaine Fairchilde might say,
In the postmodern age of Bluetooth®, Blackberry® phones, second world computer games, e-mail and instant communication, it seems absurd that a man in a zip-up cardigan and sneakers should be one of the United States’ most beloved celebrities. Yet Fred Rogers is a universally loved and respected figure. Everyone likes Mister Rogers. He’s everyone’s favorite neighbor. Fred Rogers, born 20 March 1928 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, was an ordained Presbyterian minister. However, he never did much preaching. His gift of ministry was in helping children see themselves as valuable, in confronting their fears and anxieties, in teaching the joy of learning. Fred Rogers started out in television with NBC in the early 1950s, but went to work in public television in 1954 after deciding commercials undermined the education and nurturing value of network children’s programming. His work in Pittsburgh, PA laid the foundation for his later series. A three-year stint with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation l
