Tag Archives: fred rogers

Apr 04

Being a good neighbor

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This week on “Bullseye with Jesse Thorn,” Jesse interviewed the creators of a new documentary about Fred Rogers. I, like so many others, was a huge admirer of Mister Rogers, a man of faith (he was an ordained Presbyterian minister) who expressed it in Christ-like love but without dogma. Every account I’ve ever read, seen or heard about real people meeting Fred Rogers – every single one – comments on how interested Rogers was in other people. Apparently, he made every person he met or talked to feel as if they were the most important person in the world to him at that moment.  What an amazing legacy.

I haven’t seen this new documentary yet. I do recall seeing (and preaching about) an amazing PBS documentary a few years ago which told the story of  David Newell. David Newell is better known to us all as “Mr. McFeely,” the speedy delivery man from “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” After Fred Rogers’ death, Newell, in character, became the public face of the show, attending events hosted by public TV stations across the country and greeting the children who continued to watch “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” in reruns. But I believe what Newell has dedicated his life to is not his former boss, but an idea – an idea about how to treat children, and how to treat each other as human beings. Fred Rogers (who, I am sure, was a sinful human being with flaws and foibles) lived his life in such a way that he became a powerful symbol of that idea.

Here is the extended version of Jesse Thorn’s interview with the documentary makers:

Jan 28

A special delivery

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I just watched a terrific PBS documentary about David Newell.

Never heard of him, you say? Guess again.

I have expressed my respect for the late Fred Rogers both here and in the pages of the T-G. Well, David Newell played Mr. McFeely, the “Speedy Delivery” man who was a fixture on the program and who, since Rogers’ death, has become the primary goodwill ambassador and public spokesman for the program. Newell makes public appearances to meet and greet the children who still watch Mister Rogers and their nostalgic parents.

It would be easy to be a little cynical about David Newell. I think of the farce “Galaxy Quest” and its satire of cast members from a “Star Trek”-like TV show, hopelessly typecast and stuck in a sort of living hell of re-enacting their past glories at conventions and personal appearances. But Newell, who seems to have had a seamless personal and professional relationship to Rogers, doesn’t see himself that way. He sees himself as the representative of an important legacy — a television program that told and continues to tell millions of young people they are special at an age when that’s a message they vitally need to hear.

I thought it was interesting that some of the people in the documentary talked about what a good listener Newell is and how he seems genuinely interested in the person to whom he happens to be talking, even if that’s at the tail end of a long day of personal appearances. That’s a quality I also heard ascribed to Fred Rogers, more than once.

The current head of WQED, the Pittsburgh public TV station which was Rogers’ home base, refers to Newell as “a living artifact,” and his laughter at his own clever phrase is annoyingly condescending. But I think there is something noble and admirable in Newell’s continued devotion to the ideals and the influence of his former boss.

To quote a song from Stephen Colbert’s recent Christmas special, there are much worse things to believe in.

Mar 04

Mister Rogers and his faith

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The Simple Faith of Mister RogersMy sister bought me a copy of The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers a couple of months back, and I didn’t really get a chance to sit down and read it until this past week.

What a terrific, terrific book. Author Amy Hollingsworth, whose first interview with Fred Rogers turned into a long friendship, captures the deep faith that informed Rogers’ life and work. Many people know that Rogers was a Presbyterian minister, and although his show never featured any overt religious content the gospel oozed through every pore. Hollingsworth does a terrific job explaining Rogers’ theology, both in terms of his work and in terms of the man who she came to hold so dear. Moving and extraordinary.

This also gives me a chance to refer you to another recent post:
Won’t you wear a sweater on March 20?

Feb 27

I am SO there …..

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Mark your calendars NOW. March 20, which would have been Fred Rogers’ 80th birthday, is being promoted as “Won’t You Wear A Sweater?” Day by Rogers’ production company, Family Communications, and by the city of Pittsburgh, which is celebrating its 250th birthday.

Here to tell you all about it is your favorite speedy deliveryman:
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