The Kindest Man on Earth Fred Rogers

Fred Rogers March 20 1928 Feb 27 2003 changed the face of children s educational television as the creator and host of Mister Rogers Neighborhood The show produced for 33 years in Pittsburgh and broadcast to homes across America on PBS gave preschoolers a daily half hour of imaginative make-believe puppetry and gentle talk that encouraged every child s inner life Rogers an ordained Presbyterian minister took children s television as his spiritual mission but his show never evangelized for the church His Neighborhood characters simply explored familiar American childhood scenarios while modeling kindness love and peaceful conflict resolution Rogers was a man of many talents He wrote many of the songs that he sang on the show as well as performing the puppets and he wrote dozens of educational books some intended for young children some for their parents He also testified in front of the United States Senate helping personally to convince Congress that it was very important to fund public broadcasting for children Today the Fred Rogers Company lives on after its founder s passing continuing to nurture America s children by producing PBS s much-loved animated spin-off series Daniel Tiger s Neighborhood

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