Mister Rogers And Me

While on vacation in Nantucket, Massachusetts, MTV News executive Benjamin Wagner had the ultimate neighbor, Mister Fred Rogers owned the house next door....
Mister Rogers.....

The man with the cardigan (all of them were knit by his mother), who welcomed us into his home everyday to teach us simple lessons about life....

The man who created the 'Neighborhood of Make-Believe', and made us desperate with the need to jump on that little trolley that traveled through his living room...
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The man who taught me how to tie my shoes....

The man who made us all feel welcome in his home, with a simple tune telling us that 'It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood', and asking 'Won't you be my neighbor?'.

(Yeah, I'm not going to go into a huge diatribe about how he pretty much single-handedly saved both public television and the VCR. Or how he meticulously kept his weight at 143, because 143 meant 'I Love You'. Or how he wrote and composed all the songs on the show.)

I'm going to tell you about the new documentary, Mister Rogers & Me. I can't wait to see this! Mister Rogers played such a giant role in my life....

'On the afternoon of their first meeting, “America’s Favorite Neighbor” asked the young journalist about his job as an MTV News producer. Wagner felt exposed and embarrassed, a PBS mind in a jump-cut, sound-bit MTV world.

Mister Rogers said warmly, “I feel so strongly that deep and simple is far more essential than complex.”

Later, Rogers said simply, "Spread the message, Benjamin.”'

After Mister Rogers' death in 2003, Benjamin Wagner traveled across the country to interview friends of Mister Rogers to find out more about the man in the cardigan. In the end, the brothers come to know more than just the man and his luminous legacy. They unmask the forces acting against depth and simplicity, and develop the means to lead deeper, simpler lives.

If you love Mister Rogers as much as I do, you should definitely check out the PBS site for his show.... You can see videos of Mister Rogers singing 'Won't You Be My Neighbor' and 'You Can Never Go Down The Drain'! It sounds simple, but nobody else ever took the time out to tell me that I was 'bigger than any bathroom drain', and that I wouldn't be sucked into a world where Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fight to keep our city safe.... Oh, and you can see the video of Mister Rogers and the crayon factory!

Click on the card below to go to the site!