When I was two years old, I got to meet Mr. Rogers in the airport. I don't remember it, but my parents took me over to say hello. They say that Mr. Rogers was the exact same person in real life as he was on TV and that he talked to me as if I were the most important person in the room.
I told that story to someone a few years ago, and she gave me a weird look and said that Mr. Rogers was a pedophile. I was stunned. I had never heard any such thing, and I told her she'd better google it and make sure of what she was saying before she ever repeated it again.
I loved this blog post (via Hud), and I hope that my friend has never repeated those horrible things about such a wonderful man.
Posted by Sarah at June 3, 2007 08:25 AM | TrackBackI was at a course by the Human Performance Institute, and they had a video of Mr. Rogers when he received a lifetime achievement award at the Emmy's. They showed some highlights that were amazing. He made everyone feel that they were the only person there. He had a little boy on who was severely disabled and in a wheelchair. They had a chat, with Mr. Rogers on his knee at the boy's eye level. Then he began to sing. And even with cameras rolling, the little boy looked like he felt special, and began to sing along with Mr. Rogers. OK I am not doing it justice, but it was an amazng moment.
Posted by: jck at June 4, 2007 08:02 PMHe was a good man and a celebrity - this means there will always be some idiots who have to try to run his character into the ground. Here's a link to the snopes piece on him:
http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/mrrogers.asp
I was never a big fan of Mr. Rogers, my kids watched him for a time and he had a good show. But it really makes me want to smack people who start these kind of rumors. *sigh*
Posted by: Teresa at June 5, 2007 01:06 AM