I wasn’t going to blog today, but this demands comment: Mister Rogers has died.
We can all remember, warmly, the TV personalities of our childhood; as we grow older and outgrow them, we lose our innocence and move into a harder world. Yet, the loss of innocence that accompanes adulthood makes it all the more admirable to see a grown man who so efortlessly, for so many decades, produced the sort of kind, gentle entertainment that connected instantly with generations of preschoolers. Even with our own children, it can be hard to have that connection, to put aside all the trappings of adulthood. And everyone who knew Fred Rogers testified to the fact that he was really like that — soft-spoken, patient, understanding, deeply religious (he was a Presbyterian minister) and committed to an old-fashioned, small-town sort of decency.
You could’ve been my neighbor any day, Mister Rogers. Rest in Peace.