However, I suspect that like so many “great” events, it was something very simple and very quiet with little or no fanfare (such as someone forgiving someone else for a deep hurt that eventually changed the course of history). Consider this story from Rogers:Ī high school student wrote to ask, “What was the greatest event in American history?” I can’t say. Rogers also consistently celebrated the power of the small, the slow, and the unprepossessing in a way I think resonates with many Strong Towns advocates. My Strong Towns colleague Michelle Erfurt says it even better: “Mister Rogers is an OG new urbanist.” I think of him as the patron saint of the neighborhood. I’m convinced that watching his show planted in millions of kids (across multiple generations) a seed of longing to know and be known by your neighbors. (I just looked: I now have ten books by or about him.) If you think about it, Rogers exemplified the qualities we most desperately need now: neighborliness, gentleness, deep listening, creativity, emotional honesty, lack of pretense, and an unceasing focus on raising healthy and curious and confident children.
I may or may not have had a slow drip of tears going through the whole film. Last year, a profoundly moving documentary called Won’t You Be My Neighbor? was released to huge critical acclaim. The movie is based on writer Tom Junod’s classic Esquire article, “Can You Say…Hero?”. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, which comes out tomorrow, tells the story of the friendship between Fred Rogers (played by Tom Hanks) and a journalist. This week marks the release of the second major film about Fred Rogers in as many years.
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