As a former child and as a current parent, I feel I owe a great debt to Fred Rogers. Here’s a rare treat, a documentary about Mister Rogers from 1967, just before the national launch of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood in 1968.

As we grapple with new technology and our ever-changing culture, it’s reassuring to hear that the same problematic pressures, particularly those exerted on small children, have been with our society for a while:

A child is appreciated for what he will be, not for what he is. He will be a great consumer some day, and so the quicker we can get them to grow up so that they will go out and buy, then the better.

Luckily, we have had great guides like Mister Rogers to help us work against those pressures. And one of the joys of the age of abundance in which we live is that we can continue to share such sage advice with future generations.

David Crotty

David Crotty

David Crotty is a Senior Consultant at Clarke & Esposito, a boutique management consulting firm focused on strategic issues related to professional and academic publishing and information services. Previously, David was the Editorial Director, Journals Policy for Oxford University Press. He oversaw journal policy across OUP’s journals program, drove technological innovation, and served as an information officer. David acquired and managed a suite of research society-owned journals with OUP, and before that was the Executive Editor for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, where he created and edited new science books and journals, along with serving as a journal Editor-in-Chief. He has served on the Board of Directors for the STM Association, the Society for Scholarly Publishing and CHOR, Inc., as well as The AAP-PSP Executive Council. David received his PhD in Genetics from Columbia University and did developmental neuroscience research at Caltech before moving from the bench to publishing.

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2 Thoughts on "Creative Person: Fred Rogers"

In an odd or ironic post, my kids have just discovered Mr. Rogers and watch it on the Kindle Fire through my Amazon Kid Subscription. Now I don’t know what to feel about that:)

If you want to know more about Fred Rogers, read “I’m Proud of You: My Friendship With Fred Rogers,” by Tim Madigan. It began as another newspaper assignment, a celebrity profile of the children’s television icon. But in Fred Rogers, Texas journalist Tim Madigan found more than a fascinating subject.

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