MISSING MISTER ROGERS - PBS's HOT NEW VIDEO | Episode |

June 7, 2012

Regarding this beautiful new "Mister Rogers Remixed" video by PBS Digital Stuidos, The Wrap said it best: "Yes, we realize this is the first time you've seen the phrase 'PBS' hot new autotuned video.' But it won't be the last."

"The Power of Imagination" is one of the wondrous things Mister Rogers taught all of us. This remixed video is apparently one of many that the studio is producing to honor the icons of the network (I can't wait to see what they do with Oscar the Grouch!) 

In the summer of 1974, my family rented a house in Nantucket to escape the Texas heat. One morning, I came down to the kitchen for breakfast, and my parents said that they had a surprise for me: Mister Rogers was on the island, and we were going to meet him. I immediately burst into tears. My mother took a beat before jumping to the obvious conclusion that I was throwing a typical 4-year-old tantrum, such a spoiled brat I must be, realizing in that split second why I was resisting: I was scared. She couldn't exactly pinpoint why, but that was ok, because once we got to "Crooked House" on the far west end of the island, Mister Rogers himself explained it to us. He said it happens all the time -- it's difficult for children to understand that he is a real person, and not a character they only see on the television. And if Mister Rogers could come out of the television, well then, so could any number of scary monsters and creepy villains. Once I met him in person, and saw how lovely and docile he was - just like the man in the TV! - I was calmed.

However the rocky start, Mister Rogers and I were friends from that moment, until he died in 2003.

I'll never forget him!