Includes bibliographical references (pages 369-389) and index.
Contents:
Prologue: A beautiful day -- Freddy -- Breathing room -- College days -- Love and music -- Basic training -- The Children's Corner -- On-air ministry -- Dr. Margaret McFarland -- Toronto and the CBC -- The birth of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood -- The Pastore hearing -- Language and meaning -- Mister Rogers, boss and teacher -- Puppet world -- On hiatus -- He's back! -- Behind the scenes in the Neighborhood -- Fred Rogers, musician -- Mister Rogers's family values -- Fearless authenticity -- Swimming -- The legacy -- The end of the Neighborhood -- America's favorite neighbor -- Mister Rogers lives on -- Epilogue: A personal note on the importance of Fred Rogers.
Summary:
"Every weekday for decades, a kind man named Mister Rogers stepped through a door in his TV house, spoke directly into the camera while he changed from street clothes into a cardigan and sneakers, and sang, "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood." Offering unconditional love, this soft-spoken icon was a household name for tens of millions of children, as well as their parents who grew up with this friendly neighbor themselves. Fred Rogers (1928-2003) was an enormously influential pioneer in the history of television for almost forty years. As the creator and star of public television's Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, he was a champion of compassion, equality, and kindness. Rogers was fiercely devoted to children and to taking their fears, concerns, and questions about the world seriously. The Good Neighbor, the first full-length biography of Fred Rogers, tells the story of this unique and enduring American figure. Based on original interviews, oral histories, and archival documents, The Good Neighbor traces Rogers's personal, professional, and artistic life through decades of work, including a surprising decision to walk away from the show in 1976 to make television for adults, only to return to the neighborhood with increasingly sophisticated groups of episodes, created in collaboration with experts on child development, about complex issues such as divorce, discipline, mistakes, anger, and competition. Rogers's work and his messages still resonate with parents and children today, especially in a world where the human values he championed are too often forgotten or neglected. Taking readers beyond the gentle man in the sweater, The Good Neighbor is the definitive portrait of a beloved figure, cherished by multiple generations"--Jacket.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.