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'The Good Neighbor': A comprehensive biography of Mr. Rogers

JOSHUA FRANZOS

'The Good Neighbor': A comprehensive biography of Mr. Rogers

Bombshells sell books — and movies. No explosive revelations (thank heavens) can be found in “The Good Neighbor,” a comprehensive look at the life and work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King. It’s a reverential celebration of a man who seemed too good to be true —but was. Even his flaws, such as stubbornness and a rigid adherence to high standards, could be seen as virtues.


"THE GOOD NEIGHBOR: THE LIFE AND WORK OF FRED ROGERS"
By Maxwell King
Abrams Press ($30).

Consider his insistence that a “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” week on all things mechanical and electrical should feature a child in a wheelchair and that guest should be Jeff Erlanger. The pair had met years earlier, but staffers had trouble finding his family. Why not just invite a local youngster?

But Jeff eventually was located, and his appearance led to what a producer correctly calls “one of the most stunning moments” in the program’s history. As an adult, Mr. Erlanger would honor his friend at a Television Academy Hall of Fame ceremony and 2003 memorial service four years before his own death at age 36.

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No detail was too small for Mr. Rogers, as when a nurse inflating a blood pressure cuff said she was going to “blow this up.” Fearing children would brace for an explosion, he ordered a change to “puff this up with some air.” He once stopped production so he could dash to the University of Pittsburgh to consult with Dr. Margaret McFarland, a child psychologist who guided the TV pioneer in his studies and regularly reviewed “Neighborhood” material.

The 416-page biography examines Mr. Rogers’ life in chronological fashion, features insight from wife Joanne and sons James and John (sharing youthful indiscretions with marijuana plants in the basement, alcohol and a wintry car crash that did not amuse their dad), and shows how the building blocks of Mr. Rogers’ life led to his long-running TV show and legacy as more educator than entertainer.

That emphasis contributed to what the author calls a rift between Mr. Rogers and “The Children’s Corner” host Josie Carey. “As comfortable as the collaboration was … there were some differences between his careful nature and her easygoing improvisational style, and as time went along, these differences loomed larger.”

Given the documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” along with a planned Tom Hanks movie and countless appreciations, there is no shortage of Rogers material. But this book follows the icon from his privileged Latrobe childhood in which a chauffeur drove him to and from school and home for lunch to his death from stomach cancer.

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The earlier years are particularly fascinating, and the biography shines a light on the often-overlooked hiatus from the “Neighborhood” in the mid-1970s when Mr. Rogers created programs for adults. The results could be awkward, self-conscious and preachy, Mr. King writes, with the host unable to lean on the music, puppets and whimsy that served him so well. When he returned to the “Neighborhood,” the show was stronger, more ambitious and sophisticated, tackling topics such as divorce, violence and fact vs. superhero fantasy.

Mr. King, CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation, helped to establish and, for two years, direct the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. So this may be as close to an authorized biography as we will ever get.

It’s all very earnest and welcome although it could have used more jolts of the irreverence supplied by “Neighborhood” floor manager Nick Tallo in the Morgan Neville film. It doesn’t make clear if any cast members recently declined to be interviewed or merely were squeezed out for space, and it occasionally touches on events that beg for more elaboration.

Drawing on original interviews, oral histories and archival documents Mr. King demonstrates that Mr. Rogers’ kindness and generosity were the result of nature and nurture. His mother, Nancy, organized church volunteers to scout out poverty and need while his father, Jim, provided loans or gifts to cash-strapped factory employees.

Not all was idyllic for the child chased and taunted with, “Freddy, hey fat Freddy, We’re going to get you.” He had childhood asthma and spent a summer living with another stricken boy in a room outfitted with a new air conditioner, courtesy of the Rogers family.

Everything he did, from retreating into early puppet play to transferring from Dartmouth to Rollins College, unpredictably deciding to work in TV, helping to launch educational TV in Pittsburgh, becoming a Presbyterian minister, studying child development and unexpectedly stepping in front of the camera led to global acclaim.

In rejecting the trappings of commercial TV, such as fat paychecks, ads aimed at children and money from merchandise, he became what historian David McCullough calls “the greatest teacher of all times.” And a pretty darned good neighbor, too.

Maxwell King will read excerpts from “The Good Neighbor” at the Heinz History Center, Strip District, on Tuesday at 7 p.m. He’ll also appear at the Fred Rogers Center at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe on Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. Both lectures are free to the public.

Barbara Vancheri is former movie editor of the Post-Gazette who had the good fortune to interview Mr. Rogers a handful of times.

First Published: August 31, 2018, 4:50 p.m.

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Maxwell King, author of "The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers"  (JOSHUA FRANZOS)
JOSHUA FRANZOS
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