Shea Tuttle - Exactly as You Are: The Life and Faith of Mister Rogers

EXACTLY AS YOU ARE

The Life and Faith of Mister Rogers

Shea Tuttle

WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

4035 Park East Court SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

www.eerdmans.com

2019 Shea Tuttle

All rights reserved

Published 2019

252423222120191234567

ISBN 978-0-8028-7655-3

eISBN 978-1-4674-5727-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Tuttle, Shea, 1983 author.

Title: Exactly as you are : the life and faith of Mister Rogers / Shea Tuttle.

Description: Grand Rapids, Michigan : William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: Exactly as You Are: The Life and Faith of Mister Rogers pursues a rich understanding of this good, kind, sometimes strange, deeply influential, holy man: the neighborhood he came from, the neighborhood he built, and the kind of neighbor he, by his example, calls all of us to be even now, in our own troubled timeProvided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019022638 | ISBN 9780802876553 (hardcover)

Subjects: LCSH: Rogers, FredReligion. | Television personalitiesUnited StatesBiography. | Presbyterian ChurchUnited StatesClergyBiography. | Mister Rogers neighborhood (Television program) | Television and children. | Moral education.

Classification: LCC PN1992.4.R56 T88 2019 | DDC 791.4502/8092 [B]dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019022638

For Kyrianne and Halley,
and for Drew

CONTENTS

From Latrobe, Pennsylvania,
to Mister Rogers Neighborhood

I t is more clear to me than ever that writing a book is the work of a neighborhood. Here are some of the friends and neighbors to whom I owe great thanks:

It was a joy to talk to people who knew Fred Rogers, including Randee Humphrey, Tom Junod, Cindy Kernick, Tim Madigan, John McCall, and Christopher de Vinck. Michael Horton and Franois Clemmons were particularly generous with their time and insights, and Im grateful to know them both. I am also particularly grateful to Lisa Hamilton for trusting me with her remembrances. Thanks to Lynn Japinga for getting me in touch with Lisa. Lynn Johnson shared her memories and her photographs, which capture Freds spirit like no others Ive seen. Im honored that she agreed to license one of her photos for the cover of this book.

Thanks to all at Fred Rogers Productions, especially Lynn Butler, who sent books and CDs, and Matthew Shiels, who worked with me on permissions. In addition to offering his own insights, Bill Isler enabled many connections and conversations that furthered this project. Im grateful, too, to the team at the Fred Rogers Center at St. Vincent College, and especially to Emily Uhrin at the Fred Rogers Archive, who answered dozens of questions, pulled scores of documents, and knows so much more than I could ever think to ask about Fred and his life and work. Jim Okonak at the McFeely-Rogers Foundation was unfailingly kind, generous, and helpful.

I am greatly indebted to Tim Lybarger and the Neighborhood Archive at www.neighborhoodarchive.com. I cannot overstate the value of the site for referencing songs, episodes, characters, history, and more from Mister Rogers Neighborhood, The Childrens Corner, and beyond.

Freds own neighborhoods were every bit as welcoming as one might hope. Debbie Herwick of Latrobe United Methodist Church, Arlene Jones and Rev. Clark Kerr of Latrobe Presbyterian Church, and Pamela Ferrero of the Latrobe Area Historical Society helpfully answered my questions. Rev. Carolyn Cranston, Dr. Helen Blier, and Anne Malone at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary also helped me check facts and satisfy curiosities.

I am grateful to Linda Meise, Anna Byrne, and Patricia Abrames for permitting me to quote their letters to Mister Rogers. Thanks as well to Joanna Milano and Mike Abrames for helping me get in touch with them. Thanks to Larry Nudelman for sharing his documents and stories.

Thanks to Jason Marsh, Jeremy Adam Smith, Kira Newman, Hong Nguyen, and Greater Good Magazine for the opportunity to write about Fred. Some of the material in chapter 12 appeared first in their journal. Thanks to Kristen Manieri at The Synced Life Podcast for great questions and conversation about Fred.

I am grateful to the whole team at Eerdmans and its members, past and present: Lil Copan, who guided me through the proposal process and delivered me to Eerdmans; David Bratt, whose insights were always pitch-perfect; freelance editor Victoria Jones, whose edits, fact-checks, and keen observations made this book infinitely better; and Linda Bieze, who shepherded the project through its final stages. Rachel Brewer has been a thoughtful and savvy conversation partner. Meg Schmidt designed the cover and conceived and drew the interior illustrations, and I couldnt be happier with them. Thanks to Leah Luyk for the lovely interior, Laura Bardolph Hubers for publicity work, and freelancer Tim Baker for proofreading. Additional thanks to Tracy Danz and Anita Eerdmans for early conversations, enthusiasms, and connections.

Christy Edwall, Megan Hunt Fryling, Chuck Mathewes, Kim Wagner, and Kristin Tuttle helped with Greek and French. Caroline Kelly, Elizabeth Stewart, and Nancy Myer clarified Presbyterian procedure. Thanks to all of them.

Thanks to the team at Spalding Universitys School of Creative and Professional Writing, especially Karen Mann and Kathleen Driskell. Spaldings program is flexible and compassionate enough to allow me to be on leave while working on this book, and its been a gift to feel supported from a distance and to know that I can return at the right time to a welcoming writing home.

Thanks to Charles Marsh at the Project on Lived Theology for getting the conversation started and for writerly advice along the way. And thanks to Jessica Seibert for being such a good friend and collaborator at the Project. Im grateful to Karen Wright Marsh for support, enthusiasm, and a couple of late-night chats in Grand Rapids. Thanks also to Peter Slade, who read an early draft of a short piece on Fred Rogers and helpfully reminded me of Freds delightful strangeness.

Michael G. Long, the author of Peaceful Neighbor: Discovering the Countercultural Mister Rogers (among many other books), has been integral to this process. Mikes research was immensely helpful to me, and his collegiality, advice, kindness, and confidence have been generous beyond measure.

Meredith McNabb lent me a book for a very extended period and graciously cheered me on at every opportunity. Amanda Baier-Miles is a patient and brilliant photographer and a generous friend. Im grateful for her compassion, support, and thoughtfulness. Josey Bridges Snyder helped with Hebrew and shared in kitchen table writing camp, and her friendship never falters across the miles or months (or years). I am thankful for and to Jack Ridl, who is a light in the world, and whose confidence in this project sustained me through more than a few seasons of doubt.

Aubrey Collins, Cheryl Klein, Hannah Shanks, Debbie Weingarten, and Jennifer Young, fabulous writers all, Im so grateful for you I can hardly stand it. I couldnt possibly list all the ways youve helped this book happen, much less the countless strange and wonderful ways youve graced my life. Thank you.

Thanks to my mom, Angela Tuttle, my first and most dedicated reader, and to my dad, Rick Tuttle. Your steadfast support makes pretty much everything thats possible, possible. Thanks to Erin Lockridge and Kristin Tuttle for your endurance, excitement, and ideas, for tolerating my absences at Christmas, and for watching