Page 10
The Behrend Beacon
With the death of Fred
Rogers, it's a sad day in
the neighborhood
Fred Rogers and his wife, Joanne
by Hal Boedeker
The Orlando Sentinel
Pause for a moment today and remem
ber all the people who have helped you
along. Mister Rogers would like that.
"No one of us gets to be a competent
adult without other people taking an in
terest in us, without loving us," he used
to say.
For more than 30 years, Fred Rogers
helped millions of children and parents
with the lessons of love, kindness and
friendship he delivered on public
television's "Mister Rogers' Neighbor
hood." That sprawling and appreciative
population now mourns him.
Rogers died early Feb. 27 of cancer at
his Pittsburgh home. He was 74. He had
been diagnosed with stomach cancer
shortly after the holidays, family spokes
man David Newell said.
Rogers niet his wife, Joanne, when they
were both music majors at Rollins Col
lege in Winter Park, Pb. In 1991, the col
lege laid a stone in his honor in its Walk
of Fame, right outside the house where
he lived as a student.
He called Rollins "a nurturing neigh
borhood for me, just the right place to
learn and grow. Some of the most endur
ing friendships I have in this life began at
Rollins."
His death was the top story on morn
ing news programs. "He created a safe
place for kids on TV," said Harry Smith
of CBS' "The Early Show."
He is survived "by his wife, Joanne:
PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
two sons, two grandsons and millions of
grateful neighbors," Katie Couric said on
NBC's "Today."
Diane Sawyer of ABC's "Good Morn
ing America" said she hoped the 900 epi
sodes of his show would run forever and
recalled the special treat of interviewing
him.
"When he'd come to the studio, he
would end it always by hugging you, hug
ging members of the crew and saying,
'Think about what you're doing today', to
remind everybody this isn't just a job. It's
your life you're creating," Sawyer said.
It's a lesson that people in the television
business would do well to ponder a day
after the cheesiest ratings period ended.
Flooding the airwaves were the sagas of a
deluded pop star, a fake millionaire and
pampered celebrities in the Australian
jungle.
The foolish programs catered to the low
est common denominator, unlike the
classy Rogers. But he wouldn't criticize
others. That wasn't his style.
Rather, the ordained Presbyterian min
ister tried to reach the best in his audiences.
During a 1997 awards ceremony in Los
Angeles, he received a career achievement
award from the nation's television critics.
He followed a dirty joke by Drew Carey
and several giddy acceptance speeches
with a story about a monastery where the
number of monks dwindled. The problem:
Success replaced love.
"I realize more and more that even if
we do all the right things in television
scripting and production and editing and
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Friday, March 7, 2003
promotion, even if we should deliver
the perfect program that everybody in
the world would see, if we don't have
love for the people we're working with
and the audiences we're working for,
our whole industry will someday
dwindle," Rogers told the audience.
"Love and success, always in
that order. It's that simple and that dif
ficult."
He followed that approach on
his program, which was produced from
1968 to 2000 at WQED, the Pittsburgh
public television station.
The last first-run episode of "Mister
Rogers' Neighborhood" was made in
December 2000, but didn't air until Au
gust 2001.
He was much loved everywhere.
His sweet singing of the show's theme
("it's a lovely day in this neighbor
hood"), his cardigan sweater and his
gentle voice delighted young viewers
and reassured parents that there was an
oasis of beauty in an increasingly
coarse medium.
"His legacy will be that he made
millions of children feel safe and com
forted in a time when so much of the
bombardment of the media is over
whelming," said Linda Ellerhee.
The veteran newswoman, who
has won acclaim for her Nick News
programs, called Rogers a wonderful
example. "For everything that we all agree
is bad about television and children, he
was the good of it," she said. "Nothing is
as had as he was good."
Audiences serenaded Rogers wherever
he went. One of his sweaters hangs at the
Smithsonian. Eddie Murphy spoofed him
with "Mister Robinson's Neighborhood,"
a "Saturday Night Live" skit that Mister
Rogers enjoyed.
Beyond the trappings and fame, "Mis
ter Rogers' Neighborhood" touched on se
rious themes, from war to love to feelings.
He was gratified to hear parents, who grew
up with the program, say they were shar
ing it with their children.
"If those parents can, through watch
ing again, recapture some of their own
childhood, that's going to help them be in
tune with their children and their growth,"
Rogers said in 1997.
In later years, in appearances at the
White House and the Daytime Emmy
Awards, Rogers asked audiences to re
member "the extra special people" who
had helped them. He asked for a half
minute of silence.
"I'll watch the. time," he would say.
People would laugh, then grow silent.
Many would be in tears later.
"Wherever they are, how pleased the
people you've been thinking about must
be," he said afterward. "My hunch is, that
besides me, there are many others in this
life who often think about you and all that
you've done for them."
Millions are pausing now for another
reason: Thank you, Mister Rogers.
Cu. T
Miramax films dominate
the Oscar nominations .
by Terry Lawson
Knight Ridder Newspapers
"Chicago" was their kind of movie,
and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences proved it by showering a
whopping 13 Oscar nominations on the
movie version of Bob Fosse's musical.
But the biggest winner at the 75th Acad
emy Awards nominations was Harvey
Weinstein.
The chairman of Miramax not only
shepherded "Chicago" through nearly 10
years of development but presided over
the three-year public relations disaster
that was "Gangs of New York," which
repaid his bluster with If) nominations.
As icing on his cake, Miramax has the
overseas distribution rights to "The
Hours," which received eight nomina
tions, and it has a financial piece of "The
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,"
which Miramax developed before turn
ing it over to New Line.
After a couple of years of being
shuffled off to the Oscar sidelines with
little but showy but empty candidates
like "Chocolat," the man who virtually
invented modern Oscar campaigning re
minded the competition that this was
how it was done. First, you produce great
movies. Then you convince the 5,816
members of the academy that those mov
ies were great with a barrage of adver-
tising and hype.
Miramax also pulled off a couple of
minor coups by secur
ing a best actress
nomination for Salma
Hayek in "Frida" and
a supporting actress
nomination for Queen
Ladfah in "Chicago."
Meryl Streep, who
could have had nomi-
nations in either of
those categories for
"The Hours," had to
console herself with
becoming the most
nominated actress in
Oscar history courtesy
of her supporting ac
tress nod for "Adapta
tion." She now has 13
nominations, surpass
ing Katharine
Hepburn's 12.
There were few
Kona fide surprises in
Tuesday's announce
ments. save for the
relatively poor show
ing of "Lord of the
Rings: The Two Tow
ers." While the first in
stallment of the tril
ogy led the nomina
tion tally last year
with 13, the second in
stallment earned only six for a film that
both critics and audiences considered
superior to the first.
Director Peter Jackson suffered a ma
jor snub by being shut out in the best di-
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rector race. His spot was taken by Spain's
Pedro Almodovar, whose "Talk to Her,"
unlike the films of the other directing
nominees, was not nominated for best
picture.
(The Is-My-Face-Red award goes to
this writer, who confidently predicted
Monday that neither first-time director
Rob Marshall of "Chicago" or convicted
felon Roman Polanski, director of "The
Pianist," would be recognized by the
academy. Both were.)
The film with the most nominations
has won the hest picture category for 18
of the past 20 years, which bolsters the
view that "Chicago" is essentially a lock
to become the first musical to win best
picture since "Oliver!" in 1968. Still, it
is a long shot to win most of the other
categories in which it was nominated, in
cluding best song.
Julianne Moore undoubtedly has
mixed emotions. Yes, she became only
the ninth actor ever to be nominated
twice in one year, and the first ever to be
nominated in two categories for two pic
tures supporting actress for "The
Hours" and best actress for "Far From
!leaven." But she had to feel disappoint
ment at the overall performance of "Far
From Heaven." It failed to receive a best
picture nomination or a best-director
nomination for her friend Todd Haynes.
And perhaps most grievously, her co
star, Dennis Quaid, was overlooked for
best supporting actor. Perhaps the acad-
PHOTO COURTSEY OF KRT CAMPUS
Miramax's "Chicago" swept the Oscar nomina
tions this year with 13.
cmy thought that nominating two straight
men playing gay roles Ed Harris did
make the cut for "The Hours" would
just be tacky.
Of course, any supporting actor debate
is practically moot. Paul Newman, in
"The Road to Perdition," will probably
be a near-unanimous sentimental choice
by the time of the March 23 ceremony.
(The late cinematographer Conrad Hall,
also nominated for "Perdition," auto
matically becomes the front-runner as
well.)
That "Gangs of New York"s Martin
Scorsese will finally win the best-direc
tor prize he was denied for "Raging Bull"
and "Goodfellas" is a foregone conclu
sion. But with Oscars, foregone conclu
sions often can become formidable mis-
takes in judgment.
Lost in all the "Chicago" hoopla were
a couple of small victories. Just a few
days ago, Variety announced that the tri
umph of computer animation over the
traditional hand-drawn style could have
dramatic ramifications for Walt Disney
Studios. On Tuesday, Oscar voters gave
four of the five animated-feature nomi
nations to films that were primarily hand
drawn, and three of those were Disney
films. They included the probable win
ner "Lilo & Stitch," and "Treasure
Planet," whose box-office failure
prompted Disney to take a $75 million
tax writeoff.
Fortunately, Miramax is a wholly
owned Disney subsidiary.
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