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Although I never caught Mister Rogers Neighborhood in my own youth, having been 7.5 (and more into 8th Man, Batman, and GI Joe at the time), when we moved to the East Coast, my sister DID. Later on I came to appreciate Fred Rogers' ability to help children deal with things like the Challenger disaster and other incredibly awful events. YES indeedy, he had this Zen thing going, even changing his shoes for his time with his viewers. And the constant nature of the guy wears on: when parents talked less and less to their kids, here Mister Rogers was to help fill in the gaps of making sense of an otherwise-unexplained, chaotic world. I'm sorry the world doesn't have more of him around. Amen. S. > All, > > >PITTSBURGH (Feb. 27) - Fred Rogers, who gently invited millions > >of children to be his neighbor as host of the public television show > >"Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" for more than 30 years, died of > >cancer early Thursday. He was 74. > > This may seem like it's way, way off topic. But in another sense, > this fellow performed a "living loop" for children on his program > for nearly 32 years (1968 to 2000). The consistency of the > format he followed -- a familiar one, probably, to almost every > preschool child (or parent of one) in the US for the past 30 > years -- varied hardly at all. His TV show was an endless loop. > > While many may deride his presence in showbusiness as insipid > and sentimental pap, I observe a tremendous amount of integrity > and an almost Zen-like calm, and intentionality to both the > man himself and his work (funny to think about, since he was > actually an ordained Presbyterian minister and the furthest > thing from "new agey"). > > Whatever any of us may think about that show, I believe the man > did a lot of good. The obvious goodness and gentleness evidenced > in both his stage and real-life personas (which, in fact, were > nearly identical) are an indication of a real "inner toughness" in > the face of our postmodern society's cynicism, violence and > general hopelessness. > > I haven't watched his show since my kids were very small and > have given it very little thought since it stopped airing a couple > of years ago. But, knowing he's gone now, I will miss him. I wish > my own work and (by implication) life had anywhere near as > much integrity and goodness about it. > > The "neighborhood" is just a little darker now for his passing. > You can't say that about too many people these days -- or is > my underlying cynicism and hopelessness showing? Whatever > the hell this has to do with looping now escapes me. It only has > to do with the meaning of life. > > Best, > > tEd ® kiLLiAn > > ArsOcarina@aol.com > http://www.mp3s.com/tedkillian > http://www.pfmentum.com/flux.html > http://www.mp3.com/Ophelia_Pancake > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >