Exactly as you are The life and faith of Mister Rogers

Fred Rogers was everybody's favorite neighbor, but he was also, as he once said of himself, a composer, piano player, writer, television producer, performer, husband, and father. He was an ordained Presbyterian minister, too, and, Tuttle adds in this affectionate biography, a man of complexity. Both whimsical and controlling, inarguably strange but clearly beloved, he was a deeply religious person. It is in the context of his religion that Tuttle limns what almost seems to be a charmed life. His neighborhood as a boy was Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where his parents were the richest people in town, but also, seemingly, the most generous, always helping those in need and selflessly serving the community. This service ethos helped define their son's life and the neighborhood he would create. Though Rogers was never overtly religious on the air, his beliefs were nevertheless fundamental to him as person and performer, and that sensibility informed his adored program. To his often-asked question, Won't you be my neighbor? readers will doubtless offer a resounding yes to both the question and this charming biography.--Michael Cart Copyright 2010 Booklist

Theologian Tuttle (Can I Get a Witness?) mixes anecdotes, analysis, and theological exploration in this delightful biography of Fred Rogers. In the first third, she follows Rogers's life from awkward, sickly child growing up in Latrobe, Penn.; through college at Rollins Collins; and the beginnings of his career in television. While Tuttle's beginning grafts many religious overtones onto Rogers's run-of-the-mill Christian upbringing, the remaining two-thirds build a striking and coherent image of Rogers's faith with impressive close readings of episodes of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, interviews, and writings plucked from Rogers's career. The comparison of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood to parables and the connection between Rogers's focus on emotion and the Incarnation in his personal beliefs are especially poignant. Tuttle provides a clear sense of the religious origins of Rogers's progressivism and its limits by showing how he gently pushed against gender norms and urged racial integration, but also insisted the gay actor playing Officer Clemmons remain closeted. There is a reverence in how Tuttle describes Rogers's actions and beliefs, but she avoids hagiography by showing some of her subject's shortcomings, such as his perfectionism and persistent avoidance of conflict. Tuttle's satisfying biography provides a keen sense of the deeply religious forces behind a classic TV show and its widely lauded creator. (Oct.)