So a former MTV producer, Benjamin Wagner, is currently finishing up a documentary about Mr. Rogers’ impact on his life. I would summarize, but it’s so much better to just read the original story of his brief, but life-altering, interactions with such an extraordinary person.

http://www.benjaminwagner.com/2003/02/27/mister-rogers-me/

The trailer video:

I also sometimes have the following scene pop into my head (pulled from Wikipedia and originally published in Esquire):

During the 1997 Daytime Emmys, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Rogers. The following is an excerpt from Esquire Magazine’s coverage of the gala, written by Tom Junod:

Mister Rogers went onstage to accept the award — and there, in front of all the soap opera stars and talk show sinceratrons, in front of all the jutting man-tanned jaws and jutting saltwater bosoms, he made his small bow and said into the microphone, “All of us have special ones who have loved us into being. Would you just take, along with me, ten seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are. Ten seconds of silence.”
And then he lifted his wrist, looked at the audience, looked at his watch, and said, ‘I’ll watch the time.” There was, at first, a small whoop from the crowd, a giddy, strangled hiccup of laughter, as people realized that he wasn’t kidding, that Mister Rogers was not some convenient eunuch, but rather a man, an authority figure who actually expected them to do what he asked. And so they did. One second, two seconds, seven seconds — and now the jaws clenched, and the bosoms heaved, and the mascara ran, and the tears fell upon the beglittered gathering like rain leaking down a crystal chandelier. And Mister Rogers finally looked up from his watch and said softly, “May God be with you,” to all his vanquished children.

Yes, I did cry when I first read that story.

You can find the remainder of the (very lengthy) article here if you’re so inclined.

Another documentary, “Fred Rogers – America’s Favorite Neighbor,” is now at the top of my Netflix queue. It is classified as “very long wait”, so who knows when it will actually make it. If anyone wants to join me, let me know. Can’t promise I won’t cry, though. I was a basketcase it when I first saw it on TV a few years ago. In a good way.