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Mister Rogers, you win at life. This is how one accepts an Emmy award.

Excerpt from Esquire magazine:

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.

I have yet to be disappointed by a story about Mister Rogers. Remarkable.

7 responses

Not_Robot_J said
Here's the original article where this is taken from: http://www.pittsburghinwords.org/tom_junod.html.
saruchi said
A friend of mine had a job interview with him at a restaurant in Pittsburgh several decades ago. She ordered a sloppy joe.
She said the interview was great until the sandwich arrived and dripped across her plate-Mister Rogers was nervously fidgeting, seemed distressed and acutely uncomfortable. The interview pretty much stopped there and dinner was wrapped up quickly.
She didn't get the job.
davidsmigiel1 said
That was very nice by Mister Rogers! We can expect these moments usually from the Men of Authority Figure and definitely people will do what these men ask for.

Thank You

David

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johnpdeever said
Got here 2 hops from kottke.org, and want to say that Fred Rogers was one of the last, pre-Internet truly authentic people. To really get it, instead of reading, you should watch it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upm9LnuCBUM
Alexis Ohanian said
Wow. You weren't kidding. Thank you.
CleverTitleTK said
Thank you so much for this. And for the youtube link. And, uh, Wahoowa! ;-) (But I was there with, like, your parents...)
akosiANJ said
I read a lot of weblogs recently and yours is one of the best. Has anyone here is a gold buyers?