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Thu 27 Feb, 2003 04:54 pm
Mr Rogers died today at the age of 74. Many of our children grew up with his t.v. programs. Some people are going to be wearing cardigan sweaters on Friday to commemorate him. c.i.
Count me in as a cardigan wearer, c.i.
How Mr. Rogers used the alphabet
"What really matters is whether the alphabet is used for the declaration of war or for the description of a sunrise."
-Mr. Rogers
He was a kind and wise man. Many will declare him to be naive. c.i.
Two of us in this office are wearing cardigans today in his memory...
If naive, willfully and admirably so, I suspect.
The man knew what he was doing. The NY Times obit indicates he recognized the power of TV from the get-go. Fortunately, he used his skills to accomplish something positive in the medium. Unlike so many others.
Take Reality TV, please!
He was very deliberate in the way he put together his program. He used it to talk to children rather than entertain them, and dealt with very sensitive subjects such as death, divorce, being different, etc. He brought in extremely gifted artists to expose the kids to the best, and even his background music was sophisticated jazz rather than traditional kinder music.
He was by no means naive. For all the years he did that show, he had a child development specialist giving him advice on what to present and how to present it.
dream, How true, how true! c.i.
A doc I work with told me today that Mr. Rogers visited the local children's hospital to talk with the pediatricians and to visit the kids. He said Mr. Rogers was just the way he seemed to be on TV, and the kids were thrilled...