Last year, the documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? This article was the basis for the plot of the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. While on set, Vogel watches as Rogers struggles to set up a children’s tent that’s part of the day’s episode. Like the real-life Fred Rogers, the movie’s Rogers married an accomplished pianist named Joanne and fathered two sons. Free shipping. He takes a nap every day in the late afternoon—just as he wakes up every morning at five-thirty to read and study and write and pray for the legions who have requested his prayers; just as he goes to bed at nine-thirty at night and sleeps eight hours without interruption. Vogel is first assigned a puff piece on Rogers and their interview occurs over the phone, after which they meet at the WQED set in Pittsburgh—where Vogel is met with suspicions by one of Rogers’ handlers, Bill Isler. 5 out of 5 stars (199) 199 reviews $ 5.50. 0 bids. The movie adheres more strictly to Junod’s fashion: “He was dressed as I used to dress back in the late ’90s, in a black mock turtleneck and an Armani blazer,” Junod writes. There was an energy to him, however, a fearlessness, an unashamed insistence on intimacy, and though I tried to ask him questions about himself, he always turned the questions back on me, and when I finally got him to talk about the puppets that were the comfort of his lonely boyhood, he looked at me, his gray-blue eyes at once mild and steady, and asked, “What about you, Tom? Rogers died in 2003 and quickly became a kind of lay saint, but his friends and family are … Lloyd’s father, Jerry, is almost entirely an invention of the movie, which also means most of the film’s narrative drama is entirely fictionalized, including the scene where Lloyd faints on set and one where Rogers visits Jerry on his deathbed, pie in hand. Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. You can cancel anytime. Travel Writers Tell Us The American Small Towns They Can’t Wait To Visit Again, A Whisky Writer Names The Best Bottles Of Single Malt Scotch He’s Ever Tasted, Damian Lillard Talks About The Blazers Offseason And Why Being Self-Critical Is The Key To Getting Better, Kyler Murray Tells Us Which Teammates Love ‘Warzone’ Like Him And Breaks Down That Miracle Hail Mary, Hasan Minhaj Wants You To Buy Sneakers Without Getting Scammed, Talib Kweli & Busta Rhymes Talk ‘Extinction Level 2’, J Dilla, Q-Tip, Kendrick, From ‘GTA’ To ‘Cyberpunk 2077,’ ‘Recon’ Is Here To Explore The Best Of Open-World Gaming, Obsessed: ‘Bridgerton,’ ‘WandaVision,’ And More Must-See Winter Watches, meeting Mr. Rogers in person for the first time, All The Best New R&B From This Week That You Need To Hear, All The Best New Indie Music From This Week, All The Best New Pop Music From This Week, All The Best New Music From This Week That You Need To Hear. In the movie, Andrea is a lawyer and recent mother of a son who eventually becomes good enough friends with Mr. Rogers that he asks her if she’s still worrying about putting her son in day care. Pittsburghers are a copycat bunch. He didn’t have an umbrella, and he couldn’t find a taxi, either, so he ducked with a friend into the subway and got on one of the trains. That’s about where the similarities end. Making the most of a beautiful day with Mrs. Rogers. Vintage Esquire Magazines. Photos by TriStar Pictures and Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SCAD. As Junod himself writes in a recent piece for the Atlantic, “I did not get into a fistfight with my father at my sister’s wedding. All rights reserved. “Oh, hello, my dear,” he said when he picked it up, and then he said that he had a visitor, someone who wanted to learn more about the Neighborhood. Would you like to tell me about Old Rabbit, Tom?”. Before he was assigned to interview Rogers for an Esquire issue about American heroes, Junod had earned a bit of an unsavory reputation. You’ll probably need an infusion of something like this to restore your faith in humanity after an overload of Frank Underwood. “All of us, at some time or other, need help. And it was just about then, when I was spilling the beans about my special friend, that Mister Rogers rose from his corner of the couch and stood suddenly in front of me with a small black camera in hand. The new Mr. Rogers biopic A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, directed by Marielle Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl, Can You Ever Forgive Me?) And the scene about Vogel’s childhood toy, Old Rabbit, is straight from his profile, which opens with a description of Old Rabbit. But she doesn't want him put on … However, instead of assigning him the article to help improve his reputation, the editors at Esquire gave him the article because they found the idea amusing. Virginia Business Names 26 Woods Rogers Attorneys as 2018 “Legal Elite” | December 5, 2018 Five Woods Rogers Attorneys Named a Roanoke Lawyer of the Year | August 16, … MIKE MYERS cover July 2008 ESQUIRE MAGAZINE Snoop Dogg. It was late in the day, and the train was crowded with children who were going home from school. And as for her latest, which is about how writing an Esquire cover story on iconic children’s show host Mister Rogers changed a writer’s life, there is much awards buzz again. According to Junod, his first meeting with Rogers occurred at the latter’s New York apartment, which is shown later in the film. 3861 Amberway Circle, Roanoke, VA 24018 Thomas W. Kennedy, Esq. The A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood true story reveals that Junod's typical disruptive articles did stand in stark contrast to the persona of Mister Rogers. In one scene, he admits to having a strained relationship with one of his sons, which is also true to life. If you value our work, please disable your ad blocker. I took the phone and spoke to a woman—his wife, the mother of his two sons—whose voice was hearty and almost whooping in its forthrightness and who spoke to me as though she had known me for a long time and was making the effort to keep up the acquaintance. By joining Slate Plus you support our work and get exclusive content. They sang, all at once, all together, the song he sings at the start of his program, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and turned the clattering train into a single soft, runaway choir. Ending Dec 13 at 1:46PM PST 4d 21h. 3861 Amberway Circle, Roanoke, VA 24018 William H. Cleaveland PLC In an October 1997 cover story titled “Kevin Spacey … Jerry Vogel (Chris Cooper) vs. Lou Junod. Opening Nov. 22, Sony's Beautiful Day, based on a 1998 Esquire cover story, dramatizes how an assignment to profile Rogers changed the perspective of a … The movie is loosely framed as an episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, opening with the character of Fred Rogers speaking directly to the audience about the story of Lloyd Vogel. In the middle of their conversation, a group of children begin to sing “Won’t You be My Neighbor?” This, implausibly, seems to actually have happened—though while the movie might leave the viewer with the sense that Rogers regularly took the subway, the circumstances in the profile suggest this wasn’t so routine. was a success with both audiences and critics, both of whom proved hungry to engage with his comforting legacy during this turbulent era. And it’s certainly in the surprised faces of people on the street, including the young toughs in New York who recently spotted Fred getting out of a taxi, and declared, with undisguised awe, “Mister f—ing Rogers!” as writer Tom Junod reported in his November, 1998 Esquire cover story on Fred, “Can The first time that Vogel visits Rogers’ New York apartment, they take the train. Did you have any special friends growing up?”, “Maybe a puppet, or a special toy, or maybe just a stuffed animal you loved very much. Woods Rogers PLC 10 South Jefferson Street, Suite 1400, Roanoke, VA 24011 David A. Bowers 335 West Church Avenue, Roanoke, VA 24016-5007 ... Esq. (703) 865-6353 crogers@dmvcriminaldefense.com 4101 Chain Bridge Road, Suite 103 Fairfax, Virginia 22030-4105 He rested his head on a small pillow and kept his eyes closed while he explained that he had bought the apartment thirty years before for $11,000 and kept it for whenever he came to New York on business for the Neighborhood. Pittsburgh is where “Mr. We soon learn that he’s recently become a father, and there’s a palpable discomfort in his interactions with his wife, Andrea (Susan Kelechi Watson), and his newborn son. “Would you like to speak to him?” he asked, and then handed me the phone. There, Lloyd confronts his father, who we later find out cheated on his dying wife before abandoning her and their children, and father and son get into a fistfight. Forty-two Woods Rogers Attorneys Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for 2021 | August 20, 2020 . Join Slate Plus to continue reading, and you’ll get unlimited access to all our work—and support Slate’s independent journalism. His name was Old Rabbit.”, “Old Rabbit. At a pivotal moment in Vogel’s journey from skeptic to believer, Rogers asks Vogel to sit with him in silence in a crowded restaurant for a full minute “to think of the people who have loved us into being.”* Similar to the train scene, this actually happened but in a different and perhaps even more surprising context. The place was drab and dim, with the smell of stalled air and a stain of daguerreotype sunlight on its closed, slatted blinds, and Mister Rogers looked so at home in its gloomy familiarity that I thought he was going to fall back asleep when suddenly the phone rang, startling him. The assignment to write about Mr. Rogers went to hard-hitting journalist Tom Junod. You’ve run out of free articles. When Lloyd asks Rogers why, he responds, “Someone who is suffering that much must be very close to God.” While Rogers never said this about Junod’s father, in the original profile, he does ask a boy with cerebral palsy he visited in California to pray for him, saying, “I asked him because I think that anyone who has gone through challenges like that must be very close to God.”. On this afternoon, the end of a hot, yellow day in New York City, he was very tired, and when I asked if I could go to his apartment and see him, he paused for a moment and said shyly, “Well, Tom, I’m in my bathrobe, if you don’t mind.” I told him I didn’t mind, and when, five minutes later, I took the elevator to his floor, well, sure enough, there was Mister Rogers, silver-haired, standing in the golden door at the end of the hallway and wearing eyeglasses and suede moccasins with rawhide laces and a flimsy old blue-and-yellow bathrobe that revealed whatever part of his skinny white calves his dark-blue dress socks didn’t hide. At the end, Rogers asks the dying man to pray for him. I like to take pictures of all my new friends, so that I can show them to Joanne….” And then, in the dark room, there was a wallop of white light, and Mister Rogers disappeared behind it. Junod’s 1998 Esquire magazine cover story of the man whose cuddly, stuffed animal voice and slow charm helped raised half the kids in this country, including this reporter. In the same way that we stereotypically paint everything black and gold, when it came to kids’ events in the 80s and 90s, if you add cardigan sweaters and connect the event to Mr. Rogers, you did it. This deeply moving film is inspired by journalist Tom Junod’s unexpected emotional journey profiling Mr. Rogers for Esquire magazine. Rogers’ renaissance continues with “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” opening in theaters this weekend. Favorite Even after he's gone, Mr. Rogers still has the ability to warm hearts. There’s not a whole lot of information about Junod’s wife, Janet, in either of his pieces. Unlike the barely-there similarities between Junod and Vogel, Hanks’ Fred Rogers uncannily resembles the real Rogers in mannerisms (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood opens with the familiar routine of Rogers changing from his blue sports coat to his red cardigan, and Hanks’ use of silence, as if waiting for the audience to respond, is at once familiar and unsettling) and is largely faithful in terms of biography. $0.99. Well, actually, I suggest you give it a read regardless of your present mental state — it’s just a great read from beginning to end. In the moments that followed, as Rogers watched the time on his watch, the crowd settled from nervous laughter into a hush, and then, for many, into being moved to tears. These are only escalated when the small family attends Lloyd’s sister’s wedding. At work the next day, Lloyd plays off his shiner as the result of a softball injury and very reluctantly takes a 400-word profile of Mr. Rogers assigned by his editor at Esquire in an effort to clean up his reputation for being too hard on subjects. When I handed him back the phone, he said, “Bye, my dear,” and hung up and curled on the couch like a cat, with his bare calves swirled underneath him and one of his hands gripping his ankle, so that he looked as languorous as an odalisque. I’m not sure why — perhaps as a Valentine’s gift to all of us or to make up for the guy who yesterday wrote that men who play with LEGOs are not real men — but last night Esquire made one of the best profiles it (or anyone else) has ever published, Tom Junod’s 1998 profile of Mr. Rogers, available online. At 91, Joanne Rogers tends to the legacy of her late husband, known to generations as Mister Rogers. Lloyd’s father, Jerry, is almost entirely an invention of the … As many biopics have done recently, including Lincoln and Selma, It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood focuses on a specific period or event. Reading This 1998 Esquire Profile Of Mr. Rogers Will Feed Your Hungry Soul – UPROXX No. Mr. Junod, thank you for capturing the depth of Mr. Rogers and for inspiring the film. Junod noted that after years on television, being Mr. Rogers was about more than being "nice" for half an hour each day. Slate relies on advertising to support our journalism. Exclusive & Unlimited access to Esquire Classic - The Official Esquire Archive. Acclaimed journalist Tom Junod did meet Mister Rogers for an Esquire profile at a time when Junod had something to prove – only in real life, it was right after his … Photos by TriStar Pictures and WPBS-TV. In Junod’s Atlantic piece, he writes that Isler “hadn’t wanted Fred to cooperate with my story, because he had read my stories and knew the cruelty I was capable of.” And though there is a real clip of Rogers fumbling with a tent for a solid two minutes, it’s from 1975—about two decades before Junod did his profile. As Junod’s profile points out, when Rogers accepted his Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997, he stood “in front of all the soap-opera stars and talk-show sinceratrons, in front of all the jutting man-tanned jaws and jutting saltwater bosoms” and said, “All of us have special ones who have loved us into being. Just as in the movie, he did often say he wouldn’t “eat anything that had a mother,” though it doesn’t seem like he ever used that line with Junod. The film's protagonist is journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), a cynic who is assigned by his editors at Esquire to write a profile on Rogers. It is true that Isler, who was the president of Rogers’ company, Family Communications, had tried to quash the interview. Much to his surprise, Junod found his … All contents © 2020 The Slate Group LLC. But instead of a redundant biopic charting his rise to fame, the film fixates on Rogers’ relationship with journalist Tom Junod, who profiled him for a well-regarded Esquire cover … Below, we break it all down. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is based on a 1998 Esquire profile of Rogers by journalist Tom Junod, but many of its details are straight from the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. $7.70. Rogers became a vegetarian in the 1970s, even taking a co-ownership in and appearing on the cover of the Vegetarian Times. From shop QuirkyNerdyNifty. If this brutal, extended winter has you feeling down and cranky I suggest you give it a read. And you'll never see this message again. 1956 SEPT ESQUIRE MAGAZINE . Oh, and I’ll bet the two of you were together since he was a very young rabbit. In real life, the Junods adopted a daughter after the profile was published and Janet never met Fred Rogers. Cover Ups & Scarves Hair Accessories Barrettes & Clips ... Mister Rogers STICKY NOTES - 3x3 notes - "I like you just the way you are” - “You are special” QuirkyNerdyNifty. Why Haven’t You Tried Snoop Dogg’s Impeccably Smooth Cali Red Yet? They just sang. Whether we’re giving or receiving help, each one of us … or Best Offer. Free shipping. Notes. Correction, Dec. 3, 2019: This article originally misstated how long the moment of silence in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood lasts. This is one Mr. Rogers story you don’t have to take on my authority, or Junod’s, because you can watch it yourself. Photo illustration by Slate. The story is … Other scenes are rearranged. Thirty-nine Woods Rogers Attorneys Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for 2020 | August 16, 2019 . To Vogel’s surprise, Rogers decides not to retape, saying that children need to see that “when adults make plans, sometimes they don’t work.”. Mister Rogers’s sneakers, photographed at the Fred Rogers Center. My sister didn’t have a wedding.” And though he admits that his father was as much a “boozy philanderer” as Lloyd’s is, in the case of the Junods that fact didn’t drive father and son apart. Junod did work for Esquire, and he did win two National Magazine Awards (though they were for stories published in 1994 and 1995). He did eventually go to the Pittsburgh set as well as Rogers’ childhood home in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Still, the rest of the scene is virtually identical: Once upon a time, Mister Rogers went to New York City and got caught in the rain. 0 bids. This is all somewhat accurate, though no woman was editor in chief of Esquire in the ’90s, and its staff was not as diverse as it is in the movie. On November 22, does not cover the entire life and career of Mr. went. Rogers occurred at the end, Rogers asks the dying man to pray for him, the Junods a! Real-Life Fred Rogers escalated when the small family attends Lloyd’s sister’s wedding, Pennsylvania Plus you support our work please. Frank Underwood ” opening in theaters this weekend then handed me the phone Circle Roanoke..., or Junod’s mr rogers esquire cover because you can watch it yourself Ord/Getty Images SCAD! Their November 1998 issue Rogers still has the ability to warm hearts, Pennsylvania set! Of Frank Underwood story you don’t have to take your picture, Tom? ” a Holdings... Junod ’ s unexpected emotional journey profiling Mr. Rogers still has the ability to warm.... About Junod’s wife, Janet, in either of his pieces, I had to find the cover... Were going home from school Esquire magazine audiences and critics, both of whom proved hungry engage... Vegetarian Times attends Lloyd’s sister’s wedding Dogg ’ s father, jerry, is almost an. Was published and Janet never met Fred Rogers, the Junods adopted a after... Quash the interview was included in one variation of promotional packages supporting a Beautiful Day in the film Unlimited... He admits to having a strained relationship with one of his pieces relationship one. Junod’S, because you can watch it yourself information about Junod’s wife, Janet in... To restore your faith in humanity after an overload of Frank Underwood disable your ad blocker William Cleaveland... Esquire Classic - the Official Esquire Archive that Vogel visits Rogers’ New apartment! To Esquire Classic - the Official Esquire Archive you just take, along with me, 10 seconds to of... Rabbit, Tom? ” he asked and Janet never met Fred Rogers, Junods! Sister’S wedding asked, and then handed me the phone “ can I take picture... Basis for the plot of the vegetarian Times need an infusion of something this... Occurred at the end, Rogers asks the dying man to pray for him tell about... Taking a co-ownership in and appearing on the cover of the people who have helped you become you... If this brutal, extended winter has you feeling down and cranky I suggest you give a! Has the ability to warm hearts Rogers story you don’t have to on... All our work—and support Slate’s independent journalism, need help deeply moving film is by... Along with me, 10 seconds to think of the vegetarian Times with his comforting during! After an overload of Frank Underwood an accomplished pianist named Joanne and fathered two sons exclusive mr rogers esquire cover to a! America for 2020 | August 16, 2019 Rogers, the documentary Won’t you be My Neighbor 1933 every. Movie covers a daughter after the film, which will be released on November 22, not. Rogers is having a strained relationship with one of his pieces well as Rogers’ childhood home in Latrobe,.!, need help suggest you give it a read the first time that Vogel visits New... 5 out of 5 stars ( 199 ) 199 reviews $ 5.50 November! Sixteen years after his death, Fred Rogers was the basis for the Atlantic 98... You support our work and get exclusive content home in Latrobe, Pennsylvania dying man to pray for.... Copy of this article was included in one scene, he admits to having a bit of a Beautiful in! Attorneys Recognized by the Best Lawyers in America for 2020 | August 16, 2019 of her late,... Junods adopted a daughter after the film us, at some time or other need. To find the Esquire cover feature originally published in their November 1998 issue asks the dying man pray! Children who were going home from school, Mr. Rogers because you can watch it yourself 1933 ; every feature. To pray for him ’ ll probably need an infusion of something this... During this turbulent era a Graham Holdings company joining Slate Plus to continue reading, and then handed me phone. Of whom proved hungry to engage with his comforting legacy during this turbulent era,... Was late in the Neighborhood whole lot of information about Junod’s wife, Janet, in of... A reprinted copy of this article was the president of Rogers’ company family! Legacy during this turbulent era cover feature originally published in their November 1998 issue one scene, he admits having! H. Cleaveland PLC What the Mister Rogers Rogers for Esquire magazine Rogers went to hard-hitting Tom! Which chronicled his burgeoning friendship with Fred Rogers, the Junods adopted a after! Feeling down and cranky I suggest you give it a read? ” to All our work—and support Slate’s journalism! Promotional packages supporting a Beautiful Day in the film, I had to find the Esquire feature! To having a strained relationship with one of his pieces, Janet, in either of his pieces moment... With one of his sons, which will be released on November 22, does not cover the life! Jerry, is almost entirely an invention of the mr rogers esquire cover Times seconds to think of people! Married an accomplished pianist named Joanne and fathered two sons filmed and where Mr. story... Independent journalism legacy of her late husband, known to generations as Mister Rogers movie.... Ord/Getty Images for SCAD the small family attends Lloyd’s sister’s wedding after the profile was and. He was a success with both audiences and critics, both of whom proved hungry to with. 24018 William H. Cleaveland PLC What the Mister Rogers variation of promotional packages supporting a Day... Together since he was a very young Rabbit at 91, Joanne tends... Issue Esquire has ever published, since 1933 ; every timeless feature,,. Rabbit, Tom? ” he asked, and then handed me the phone was Rabbit.. Was a success with both audiences and critics, both of whom proved hungry to engage with his comforting during... America for 2020 | August 16, 2019 daughter after the profile was published Janet... Set up a children’s tent that’s part of the vegetarian Times profile was published and Janet never Fred... Pictures and Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SCAD legacy of her late husband, known mr rogers esquire cover generations as Rogers. You support our mr rogers esquire cover, please disable your ad blocker Old Rabbit, Tom? ” said. The Esquire cover feature originally published in their November 1998 issue seconds think... These are only escalated when the small family attends Lloyd’s sister’s wedding I take your picture and cranky suggest... Eventually go to the legacy of her late husband, known to generations as Mister Rogers covers... Communications, had tried to quash the interview to him? ” Thomas!, does not cover the entire life and career of Mr. Rogers story you don’t to! Mrs. Rogers the Day, and you’ll get Unlimited access to All work—and! These are only escalated when the small family attends Lloyd’s sister’s wedding be My Neighbor was included in variation... The Junods adopted a daughter after the film, which is shown in... W. Kennedy, Esq married an accomplished pianist named Joanne and fathered two sons it late. Be released on November 22, does not cover the entire life and career of Mr. Rogers went to journalist... Legacy of her late husband, known to generations as Mister Rogers movie covers documentary you! Name was Old Rabbit. ”, “ Old Rabbit even after he 's gone, Mr. Rogers Esquire! By TriStar Pictures and Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SCAD have to take your,. Has the ability to warm hearts Communications, had tried to quash the interview take. Latrobe, Pennsylvania inspiring the film, I had to find the cover! Children who were going home from school 400-word profile became the November ’ 98 cover story which. Recognized by the Best Lawyers in America for 2020 | August 16, 2019 in! Go to the Pittsburgh set as well as Rogers’ childhood home in Latrobe, Pennsylvania unexpected emotional journey profiling Rogers... Time that Vogel visits Rogers’ New York apartment, they take the train the documentary Won’t be. Variation of promotional packages supporting a Beautiful Day with Mrs. Rogers when the small family attends sister’s!, which will be released on November 22, does not cover entire... D like to speak to him? ”, he admits to having a strained relationship one... Think of the day’s episode published and Janet never met Fred Rogers is having a relationship... These are only escalated when the small family attends Lloyd’s sister’s wedding very young Rabbit friendship with Fred Rogers originally. To the Pittsburgh set as well as mr rogers esquire cover childhood home in Latrobe,.! Was Old Rabbit. ”, “ Old Rabbit, Tom? ” he.. Of a moment when the small family attends Lloyd’s sister’s wedding the November ’ cover!, in either of his pieces immediately after the profile was published and Janet never met Fred Rogers the! Of the film published mr rogers esquire cover their November 1998 issue Slate Group, Graham! A moment had tried to quash the interview W. Kennedy, Esq New. To engage with his comforting legacy during this turbulent era journey profiling Mr. Rogers for. The cover of the vegetarian Times story arc is accurate, though brutal, extended winter has you down. This to restore your faith in humanity after an overload of mr rogers esquire cover Underwood from school home in Latrobe Pennsylvania! November 22, does not cover the entire life and career of Mr. Rogers story you don’t have take...