I just read that Mr. Rogers died this morning. I was very surprised to see this because I thought he was already dead. Regardless, it made me very sad. I can't imagine how King Friday, Lady Elaine, and that big purple bear must feel.

This is a sad, sad day in the neighborhood.


(Edited by Brother Love at 12:28 pm on Feb. 27, 2003)

I just heard that he died from one of our neighbors. He said that he thought he was dead already, too. It certainly is very sad.
My fondest memory of Mr. Rogers is of his show being on TV in the movie, "The 'Burbs."

Did you say, "Hi, neighbor" when he told you?

Aw.

I am deeply, deeply saddened. I have always loved Mr. Rogers and have dreaded this day for a while now...knowing that he was still living and probably didn't have many years left. He was just a nice, sweet, lovely man. This is a sad sad day.

I also thought he might have already been dead. Have new episodes of Mr. Rogers been made recently or has it been in reruns for a while? Anyway, this is sad.

This is very sad, but the title of the thread "Mr:Rodgers: He's Dead" made me laugh. It's still sad though...

so very sad.....so very sad.......

I hope he's having fun in that giant neighborhood in the sky...

that quote right there is almost as sad as the fact itself. this is sad. im sure lady elaine is crushed.

He retired with his last taping in December of 2000.

It was weird hearing the news this morning, almost like hearing you've lost a grandparent. I watched him way beyond any normal child should, and even watched him into college. I loved his show. It was so great. I had two childhood fantasies about growing up. I wanted a Batcave in my house, and I wanted a Trolley that would go to The Neighborhood of Make-Believe.

The great thing about Mr. Rogers is that he never sold out or pimped the kids for some cash. I'm sure he did all right in life, but have you ever seen any NOMB puppets? Or those sweet ass toys he'd pull off the shelf? Or even a trolley like that? No. There was very few merchandising products attached to the show. I remember I had some storybooks as a kid, but I'm sure they taught some valuable lesson about sharing or telling the truth or something. The guy passed up on millions of dollars to stay true to his cause. Bravo.

I always associate Mr. Rogers with one particular memory from childhood where I was watching his show eating chocolate pudding. I don't know why this is, maybe some of these psych majors can explain the imprinting of memory triggers. When I was watching the Rose Bowl Parade this New Year's, where he was the Grand Marshal, I had the same instant memory flash with the distinct taste and smell of the pudding. Don't know why I even typed that. But I think I'm gonna go get me some chocolate puddin' in honor of Ol' Mr. Rogers. Bye Neighbor.

a truer statement has never been made.

Mr. Rogers... you know, it's strange how we were all so attached to this man and his shows. I mean, the trip to the dance studio and learning to hula hoop with the mail man were two of my favorite episodes...

Does anybody know how old he was? I thought he was like 60 when I was in preschool.

I think I saw a headline that said he died of cancer at 74.

I used to watch Mr. Rogers all the time, that's so sad that he died.

I also want to add he always had cool sweaters

I got teary when I heard the sad news this morning on NPR. His seemed to be a life so well-lived, though. We should all be so lucky, no?

Wow. I did not hear about this until right now. And I am very sad. Some of my earliest memories are of watching Mr. Rogers every day. Such a friendly man. Did you know that he was an ordained Methodist minister?

(Edited by jamiecarroll at 2:48 am on Feb. 28, 2003)

I always wanted some of those puppets. They were cool. I always liked Daniel, the tiger who wore a watch.

And Ms. Carroll, he was a Presbyterian minister.

I am saddened by this as well.

wasn't he also in the navy or something? i remember hearing a long time ago that the reason that he wore the sweaters was to cover up his tatoos....this could be something that i completely came up with inside of my head, but i think it's true.........maybe?

I've heard that he was in the Navy, too...

Never heard anything about the tattoos... but how cool would that be!?

Mr. Rogers was definately one of the coolest guys ever!

This is a popular urban legend. (You can read it about it here.) Fred Rogers never served in any branch of the armed services.

I always loved Henrietta Pussy Cat and Daniel the Tiger. I still have this one little grey stuffed animal kitty that I got when I was really little that I named Henrietta.

I always loved the ones where Mr. Rogers would play in the sandbox outside.

what a cool website. this kinda cheers me up. is that wrong?

Yes, very very sad. I watched the Today Show interview Mr. McFeely about it and it was just so sweet and sincere. Even Matt Lauer got misty. As it turns out, McFeely was Mr. Roger's middle name. I always figured it was just related to being in touch with your feelings.

My mom told me about today, I hadn't heard, but then she would just keep randomly humming, mumble singing the them song which got me a bit worried It's definitely sad to hear though.

that's creepy.

Yeah, she kept on humming the song, it's a beatiful day in the neighborhood...da da dada da da dada. Then I asked her why was she humming it, and she told me about him... Just sad news and yes it was creepy.

i cried. i loved that man. he was like a grandfather to me. when my brother was little my mom said "i love you just the way you are" and my dear sweet brother replied with the tear-jerker line: "so does mr rogers, mommy!" my mom thought this was precious and sent a letter to mr rogers about it. he sent a letter back to her telling her that what america needed was more loving mothers who cared so much like she did and he thanked her for being such a wonderful woman. i thought that was amazingly sweet. what a great guy he is. i love that man. my sister, being 20 years old, watched every show up until he retired and even recorded his finale. she still watches the reruns as well. (of course, she works at a daycare, but i believe she would choose to watch him regardless.) what a dear old man, that fred rogers.

that's a really touching story. you should send it in to some god related magazine. im just kidding about the superbitch act. im good at it, huh?

seriously though that is a sweet story.

btw my mom said the exact ame thing to me when i told her i like girls. i wonder what mr. rogers would have to say about that.