[ad_1]
Joanne Rogers, an accomplished concert pianist who celebrated and protected the legacy of her husband, beloved children’s television host Mister Rogers, has died in Pittsburgh. She was 92 years old.
Rogers died Thursday, according to the Fred Rogers Center. No cause of death was given. The center called her “a joyful and loving spirit, whose heart and wisdom have guided our work in service of Fred’s enduring legacy.”
Joanne and Fred Rogers were married for over 50 years, spanning the start and end of the low-tech, low-key ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’, which featured Fred Rogers as an adult in a busy world who always had time to listen to children. His attraction as America’s favorite neighbor never seemed to wane until his death in 2003.
“I can’t think of a time when we needed him so badly,” Joanne Rogers told The Associated Press in 2018. “I think his job is just as timely now as it was when it is. out, frankly.
An ordained Presbyterian minister, Fred Rogers produced the pioneering show on the Pittsburgh public television station WQED from 1966, going national two years later. He composed his own songs for the show.
It provided a safe haven for children, in stark contrast to the stronger and more lively competition. The last episode of what his widow called “A Comfortable Ride” aired in August 2001.
PBS stations across the country still broadcast “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and some can be found on the PBS Kids video app. There are DVD collections on Amazon and streaming episodes on Amazon Prime.
The city of Pittsburgh, where the show was produced, tweeted that Joanne Rogers was one of Pittsburgh’s “bigger neighbors”. He said that the couple “changed our city forever”. Other tributes have come from fans as diverse as tennis star Billie Jean King to designer Kenneth Cole.
Fred Rogers ‘effect on popular culture was profound: Eddie Murphy parodied him on “Saturday Night Live” in the 1980s and one of Rogers’ signature zippers hangs in the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian. He had a category dedicated to him on “Jeopardy”.
2018, the 50th anniversary of Rogers’ first appearance on TV screens, sparked a PBS special, new postage stamp, feature-length documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and, a year later, the biopic directed by Tom Hanks “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”.
Born Sara Joanne Byrd in 1928, Joanne Rogers met her future husband at Rollins College in Florida. After the death of Fred Rogers, she helped develop the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at St. Vincent College in her hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
“Joanne and Fred were treasures from Pennsylvania committed to improving our communities and the lives of our children. We will never forget their legacy of kindness, ”Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said in a statement.
She is survived by two sons, James Byrd Rogers and John Rogers.
___
Michael Rubinkam, Associated Press reporter, contributed to this report from Pennsylvania.
[ad_2]
Source link