Book Review: The Good Neighbor

Before all the hullabaloo of the pandemic arrived, I attended a library showing of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. I thoroughly enjoyed it. How thrilling to discover an audio rendering of Maxwell King's biography of Mr. Rogers, The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers. Even though I wouldn't call myself a big fan, I watched Mr. Rogers's Neighborhood in my childhood. Moreover, Jordan Raynor, author of Called to Create, highlighted Fred Rogers's pursuit of excellence in his newsletters. I consider Fred Rogers an excellent person to emulate. One passage in this book, where Rogers revealed his inner critic (something all writers can relate to), especially intrigued me. Just hearing that someone as successful as Fred Rogers struggled with feelings of being a fraud and not living up to what he was called to, filled me with relief. On the outside, we recognize those feelings as unfounded, but the inner critic calls out insistently, regardless.

The back cover proclaims: "Based on original interviews, oral histories, and archival documents, The Good Neighbor takes listeners beyond the gentle man in the sweater, tracing Rogers's personal, professional, and artistic life through decades of work." He was, indeed, the gentle man he appeared to be on television. His foremost commitments were to achieving excellence and nurturing children. He started every day focused on the Lord, and to everything he endeavored, he gave 100 percent. Would that others could say the same of me when I'm gone!