Fred Rogers: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations

A collection of six interviews with Fred Rogers over the years, extending from the first before the Senate Subcommittee on Communications in 1969 to his last interview with Diane Rehm in 2002 before his death in 2003.

From some of the interviews:

“The woman who was the director of the nursery school told me that she had never seen the children use puppets, and there were puppets all around. She said they used them imaginatively when I would come with my puppets. She made an analogy to a father of one of the children several years before. He was a sculptor. He would come to the school once a week just to fashion clay in the midst of the children, not to teach sculpting, but to show how you enjoy it in front of the children. He would come and love that clay in front of the children one day a week. She said that never before or since had the children used clay so imaginatively as when that man used to come and love it in front of them. Nothing didactic about it.”

“I think one of the greatest gifts you can give anybody is the gift of your honest self.”

“We're still one of the islands that encourage quiet and some space to think. We hear every day from people saying how grateful they are for some time of calm.”

“All I can do is be myself. I've had the grace to be able to do that. I walk into the studio and I think, ‘Let some word that is heard be Thine.'“

“You know, my mother used to say, a long time ago, whenever there would be any really—catastrophe that was in the movies or on the air, she would say, ‘Always look for the helpers. There will always be helpers, just on the sidelines.'“

“So maybe you'll...take some time to think about those who have cared so deeply for you that you're really nourished in this whole life because of knowing them.”

“...how can I say how grateful I am for what I've been able to do and be. How can I ever express my gratitude enough?”

“I think that (giving thanks) is one of the most important things that there is. ‘Eucharisteo' in Greek is ‘thanksgiving.'“

“You know, we have pieces of the people that have cared about us all through our lives, and they're all part of us know. And so we represent, each one of us represents, so many investments from others. No one of us is alone.”

“...I have no fear of dying. And, you know, I would be very glad to talk with, with anybody, about the joy of going on. You know, what's next? It'll be fun, too. I have a great trust in God's constant care; this is just one chapter in a long, long book: this part that we call ‘being on Earth,' you know?”

“‘I was walking this far off the ground,' Rogers said, smiling at the memory and holding his hand a foot above the floor. ‘You know, there are special times and there are extra special times. I feel that the real drama of life is never center stage, it's always in the wings. It's never with the spotlight on, it's usually something that you don't expect at all.'”