Yes, his middle name really was McFeely, and no, he never, ever said “Can you say...?”
I hadn’t expected this to become the daily obituary report, but people keep dying, people whose passing must be noted, even here. People like the Reverend Fred Rogers, AKA Mister Rogers, previously known as Misterogers, who died early today at the age of 74, after serving for more than three decades as a singing, fish-feeding, puppeteering minister to a very young and widely dispersed congregation. Fortunately, most of that ministering was videotaped, so it will still be available to future generations.
Today’s AP wire features not only an obit but several sidebars, including a collection of quotes from the man himself. I found it disappointing, because it included not a one of my own favorite Mister Rogers lines. So I looked around a bit online and found a few other quotes I like better than the ones the AP chose:
“I got into television because I hated it so.”
“The whole idea is to look into the television camera and present as much love as you possibly could to a person who might feel that he or she needs it.”
“The nearer I get to the end of life on this earth, the simpler I want to become.”
But those still aren’t my favorite Fred Rogers sayings. As it turns out, my very favorites are not from his speaking but from his singing. He wrote more than 150 songs, and out of all those, three lines from three different songs have stuck with me (and at least two other people I know):
“There are many ways to say I love you.”
“Wishes don’t make things come true.”
“You’ll never go down, never go down, never go down the drain.”
The family is planning a private service; no word yet on whether the good reverend will be laid to rest in sweater and sneakers or jacket and loafers.
posted by Janet Dagley Dagley @1:47 PM
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27.2.03  |
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