Won't You Be My Neighbor Day

On March 20, 1928, one of the most gentle, kind, and gracious souls of the last century was born into this world in Latrobe, Pennsylvania …

… Fred McFeely Rogers. 

Today is the birthday anniversary of Mr. Rogers, the creator of the children’s American television program, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, the critically acclaimed show that focused on children’s emotional and physical concerns, such as death, sibling rivalry, school enrollment, fear, and divorce.

During his life of 74 years, Fred Rogers work in children’s television has been widely lauded, and he received more than forty honorary degrees and several awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Emmyin 1997 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Famein 1999. Rogers influenced many writers and producers of children’s television shows, and his broadcasts provided comfort during tragic events – notably surrounding September 11, 2001 – and even after his death.                                                                                                             

Today, on this Won’t You Be My Neighbor Day and in commemoration of his birth, we honor his life and legacy, and proudly and passionately acknowledge the influence he has had on Someone To Tell It To’s creation, evolution, and values.

Two quotes of Mr. Rogers’ that speak so directly to Someone To Tell It To’s mission and work, of the countless quotes of his that have informed and inspired us over the years, are these:

Listening is a very active awareness of the coming together of at least two lives. Listening, as far as I’m concerned, is certainly a prerequisite of love. One of the most essential ways of saying ‘I love you’ is being a receptive listener. 

Listening is where love begins: listening to ourselves and then to our neighbors. 

He understood that listening is at the heart of all good relationships, the key to showing and modeling love and respect for one another. 

Fred Rogers’ valuing of noticing what matters to others, along with listening’s power, inspires us to value it too. It motivates us in every decision we make, every reaction we have, every action we take. We may not be perfect at it. But we certainly try to be our best because of the best of himself that he showed us throughout his life. 

One of the great gifts that our respect and admiration for Fred Rogers’ life has given to us is our relationship with a dear friend of his, Tim Madigan, a gifted journalist, living in Fort Worth, Texas. After reading and rereading Tim’s wonderful and touching book, I’m Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers, near the beginning of our relationship, we were moved to create Someone To Tell It To to help the world to listen. 

We then reached out to Tim, in our first year of Someone To Tell It To’s existence, to invite Tim to speak at the nonprofit’s first of the 11 Annual Gatherings we’ve held each year. We seamlessly and immediately hit it off with him, sharing a marvelous weekend together surrounding that event, and have kept in close contact and connection with Tim ever since. Just this past autumn, a play – I’m Proud of You – based on Tim’s book, premiered in Fort Worth, and Tom invited us as his special guests to one of the performances. It was another marvelous weeknd together. We fell in love with the play, being moved by its familiar story filled with warmth, humor, and evident love. 

During that weekend together, we spoke to Tim and to the play’s director about bringing the play to our area, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They were so open to that idea, for they didn’t want the magic that they experienced with the play to end with its run in Fort Worth. 

We cannot announce details yet, as they are still in the negotiation, discernment, and planning stages. But we hope to announce some good news about this potential collaboration very soon. 

We will be beyond excited and proud for the potential to have this wonderful play about two wonderful men – Fred and Tim – and their relationship during the last years of Mr. Rogers’ life, come to our neighborhood. What a privilege it would be to be able to share this story, this profound gift of empathy and love, to a wider audience … 

… to a world that needs this message so very much.