Mr Roger's passing

[mmk]

The neighborhood is still beautiful but with an overwhelming sense of sadness today. Fred Rogers definately was a very influential force of this century and with the legacy that he left, he will continue to influence many more generations for decades and decades to come. We were very fortunate to have lived when this man spread his wisdom in his very kind, soft spoken manner. Thank you very much Mr. Rogers for inviting us into your neighborhood daily. We are better for having been there.

[Chuck50]

Yes he was a truly great man. I got my Cardigan Sweater out today and wore in his honor. The Tennis shoes where in the back of the Closet sorry to say. HUGS Chuck

[+ deej]

Mr. Rogers taught generations of children (including mine) that it's GOOD to be "the nice guy". He will be sorely missed. ;(

[BigD]

Can't resist adding to the above. Fred Rogers personified

the sensitive gentleman. He was soft spoken, but not afraid

to speak of the things that were wrong in the world. He was

a man of peace who loved his neighbors - all of them. He was

a Presbyterian minister who didn't have to preach about God

because his life evidenced his faith.

Peace

[Justice]

For several years in the 1950's Mr. Rogers had a local television show called The Children's Corner, that I believe aired live, in the Pittsburgh area. He never appeared on camera, but all of his puppets including Lady Elaine Fairchild and Daniel the Tiger did. They only human who appeared on camera was a woman named Josie. My grandparent's lived near Pittsburgh and my siblings and I spent the summer with them one year while our mom was recuperating from thyroid surgery. This was before cable. There was only three channels. The TV was black and white and The Children's Corner was one of the few shows that we were allowed to watch. I remember those shows like it was yesterday. My grandparents gave me a record album called "Tomorrow on the Children's Corner" (I still have it ... I played it so much that it's badly scratched unfortunately), which forced me to use my imagination to figure out the meaning of "tomorrow". It was pure magic. I think that I was 10 or 11, when Mr. Roger's Neighborhood started airing in the New York Air. I was much too old to watch, but I remember discovering it one day while I was channel surfing (without a clicker) and instantly being transformed back to Pittsburgh, Tomorrow, and The Children's Corner. I still feel that way whenever my nieces or nephew, who are all starting to outgrow it, force me to watch Mr. Roger's Neighborhood with them. Goodbye Mr. Rogers. Thanks for the memories. I'm glad that you were my neighbor.

[Rick Munroe]

That was a nice story, Justice. I just read that he was buried today. ;( Mister Rogers was my best (TV) friend when I was about 5 years old (well, next to Carole & Paula on Magic Garden, and Grover on Sesame Street). I never forgot the message in his shows...to love yourself as you are. We need more mentors like him.

 

A few years ago, I got some 1960's Neighborhood finger puppets (King Friday, X the Owl, & Henrietta Pussycat) on Ebay. I'm sure they're worth more now that he's gone but I want to keep them around. Just don't tell Macho Derek.

[Boink]

You're right Justice - the show you talked about was a precursor to Mister Rogers Neighborhood and it spilled over into the early 60s from whence I have vague memories of it. The lady was Josie Carey (who is alive and well) and I remember one of the live characters was a nutty old professor named Mr. Winkle. My very earliest childhood memory was one Christmas when my mother took us to see Santa Claus on the uppermost floor of Kaufmann's department store downtown Pittsburgh and they had the whole floor dressed up as Mr. Winkle's laboratory. My first elevator ride - they had it decorated like the inside of a rocket ship going to the moon! :-)

[Justice]

>( Mister Rogers was my best (TV) friend when I

>was about 5 years old (well, next to Carole & Paula on Magic

>Garden, and Grover on Sesame Street).

 

I know what you mean. I'm a couple of years older than you so I never got to enjoy Sesame Street until I became an uncle. The Magic Garden, the other hand, was one of my favorite shows. It aired around lunch time and I used used to race home from school so that I could watch it before we had to go back to school. This summer, when my father was still in intensive care, I read in the newspaper that Carole and Paula would be making an appearance at Bergen Mall that very afternoon. I immediately informed everyone in the waiting room. (That included the families of other patients.) We had a couple of hours until our next visit, the mall was about five minutes from the hosptial, and we had just enough time to get to see them. My mom thought that we were nuts, but a bunch of us immediately ran to our cars and headed for the mall. When we got there, we discovered that the adults (all of whom were in their 30's and 40's) outnumbered the children, that Carole and Paula haven't changed a bid, and that we all still knew the words to the theme song! (BTW, for those of you who didn't grow up in the New York area, The Magic Garden was a children's show that aired on Channel 11. It was hosted by two twenty something women named Carole and Paula.)

[Justice]

Thanks, Boink, for letting me know that Josie is still around. I have found memories of her too; especially since we got to see what she looked like. I was never was in Pittsburgh during the holidays. It sounds like I missed something truely magical. I'm glad that you got to experience it. What a wonderful memory!