Won’t you be his neighbor, again?
I’ve always considered Fred Rogers a saint who for a time walked among us.
When you watched Fred on his television show, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” there was absolutely no pretense. That same gentleness and childlike quality displayed on the screen was always present. And that wonderful manner of his is sorely lacking from today’s television offerings, especially since PBS stopped running his shows on a national basis years ago.
If you want to see Mister Rogers again — or perhaps introduce your children to a non-frenetic sort of entertainment that they may find enjoyably relaxing — TwitchTV is streaming a free marathon of the show through June 3.
I wrote a letter to Fred, back in the early 1990s. I was interested in how certain aspects of his show were created and performed. I expected a short reply, if any, knowing that I was asking for an expenditure of his personal time. Instead, Fred Rogers sent me a multi-page handwritten letter, explaining in great detail the answers to my questions. In addition, he included about 20 pages of printout material concerning the show, as well as an autographed photo personally inscribed to my wife and me.
(I had told him that we both watched the show, even though we had no children. This was the truth. My wife and I found the show extremely relaxing, the video equivalent of a martini after work.)
The time and effort he put into his very personal reply impressed me deeply. From then on, Fred Rogers could do no wrong as far as I was concerned. And from everything I’ve ever seen or read concerning him, Fred Rogers was that way with everyone he met.
Another story about Rogers is instructive about the kind of impact he had during his lifetime.
In response to a piece I wrote long ago, I received the following from a reader.
“I was shaving one morning… and heard Matt (my son, who has cerebral palsy) talking with someone. Now, Jim, you should understand that I had run the gauntlet of specialists, therapists, teachers, and doctors in an attempt to discover a way to open Matt to expression of himself so that I could ‘plug in’ to him ‘where he was’ in mental ability and cognitive awareness, but with no luck.
“I was intrigued as to what or who was evoking such deliberate and direct conversation from Matt, since it was just him and me at home. So, around the corner I peeked. And there Matt sat ... inches away from the TV ... listening to Mister Rogers’ questions (in that slow, patient, deliberate, gentle way of his) ... and having been given the time to process each question ... and being looked directly at with eyes that bespoke respect and interest in just him out of all of the whole wide world ... Matt responded.”
That’s the sort of thing Fred Rogers, and only a show imbued with Fred’s gentleness, was able to do. As we careen further and further off the rails politically, with so many people at odds with each other, wouldn’t it be a great thing if even a little bit of Fred Rogers’ sort of peace made its way into a few hearts?
I’ll be in Fred’s old neighborhood, off and on, during the TV marathon. Please join me. You don’t need to dress up or anything. Fred likes you just the way you are.
Jim Sullivan is a regular contributor to the Boston Herald. Talk back at letterstoeditor@bostonherald.com.
The time and effort he put into his very personal reply impressed me deeply. From then on, Fred Rogers could do no wrong as far as I was concerned.