Mister Rogers

[Melody <Malady579@hotmail.com>]

Torsten asked:
> > *shy request* Will someone tell me who both Mr Rogers and Valerie
> > Singleton are?


GulPlum wrote:
>"Mr Rogers" is (or rather, was, considering he died this morning), as
>I have found out today, a major figure in children's TV in North
>America.


As one of my friends told me recently...

You could say that.  You could also say the sky is blue.

You see.  Mister Rogers was a dear, dear man.  He was an honest,
sensitive man.  *Always.*  There is no "behind the scenes" scandalous
special on his life.  He was just and always Mister Rogers.  A few
years ago, he received a special Grammy, and on the show, it was so
amazing that he was in real life as he was portrayed in the show.  We
are so use to people on television "acting" that is was so refreshing
and almost encouraging that Mister Rogers was in fact Mister Rogers.
He was precisely what we always thought him to be as a kid.  So few
perceptions in childhood hold true.  Mister Rogers is one of those.

He was so tender and gentle on his show.  He would walk to his house
every day and come in at the precise time singing "It's a beautiful
day in the neighborhood.  A beautiful day in the neighborhood.  Would
you be mine?  Won't you be mine?"  While he did he would change out of
his adult "work" jacket and slip on leather shoes and into comfortable
"play" cardigan sweater and softer lace up shoes.  He was not trendy
or tricked up.  He was just the type of man that could kind of be your
grandfather.

He would then continue to talk ever so calmly to you.  All while doing
boring normal things like make bread or create a wooden box.  He would
*always* remember to feed his fish.  Mr. McFeely would come with the
mail and fun packages.

Sometimes Mr. Rogers would take us to trips to the music store to
learn new instruments.  It was the first time I ever saw a "saw"
played with a violin bow.  He would also go to the "local" school to
show us that there is nothing to fear about kindergarten and the
school bus drivers are friendly.  He would show how to buckle
shoes...and oh, oh, he had this one video where he showed about how
crayons are made.  Now I was so sure that *that* was the coolest thing
I had ever seen.  Zillions of little red and blue and yellow crayons
zooming around in conveyor belts.  I do so love to color you know.

And then there was the land of make believe.  Mister Rogers would turn
on this trolley he had in his house that went off to the land of make
believe like a toy train someone would have set up in their house.
Sometimes he had these models he would "fade" from one land to the
other.  It was always set up as a shift from reality.

It took me until I was a teenager to learn he was the one that was the
voice for most of the puppets there.  It was a sort of walk-in puppet
theater with a castle, big tree, merry go round, platypus mound thing,
and a clock where the shy tiger Daniel lived.  Daniel was my favorite.
 Though sometimes when I was a kid I thought he needed to get a
backbone more, but he meant well.  Thinking back on it now, I cannot
remember what the puppet plots were, but each puppet always had their
own distinct personalities and goals, and I always looked forward to
the land of make believe.

Really, to me, Mister Rogers was a show and a man I watched as a kid
that was kind of basic and simple.  I don't really know why he was so
enchanting to me and my brother.  We just laid there in the middle of
the living room floor with our heads sharing the same pillow watching
the show over and over.

Rest in peace Mister Rogers.


Melody