What it was like growing up in the real Mr. Rogers's neighborhood

This year marks the golden anniversary of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood — 50 years since the children's TV staple was first broadcast nationally — and a flood of high-profile tributes is well underway. There's a postage stamp commemorating Fred Rogers, the show's affable host; a star-powered PBS special; a documentary; and coming later this year, a Rogers biography and a biopic starring Tom Hanks as Rogers.

From all these adoring tributes, it is clear that Rogers and his show are considered a national treasure. I have my own Mr. Rogers memories, including a brief personal encounter with the man that led me to reconcile the TV character with the person he really was. The reason? Fred Rogers was my real-life neighbor.

As a kid, I never liked Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. In fact, I couldn't stand it, especially the host, with his wimpy voice and mawkish homilies. I thought it was corny and dull, especially that tired routine of putting on his cardigan and Keds, warbling the theme song, and then changing back into his suit jacket and dress shoes to close out the show. And it was so insufferably earnest, with no hint of flash or slyness, qualities that were abundant in Sesame Street and The Electric Company, which I much preferred.

Maybe the reason I found Mr. Rogers so unbearable was because his trademark solicitude toward children seemed fake to me. His whole approach just didn't jibe with the reality I knew at home, or anywhere else for that matter. The parents of my generation — who were raised under such notions as "children should be seen and not heard" — simply weren't as involved or interested in the everyday reality of their children's lives. We were told, or simply expected, to go play in the streets.

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was produced in my hometown Pittsburgh, which gave the show an outsize presence there. Some of the cast members were local celebrities: Don Brockett, who played Chef Brockett on the show, was on my paper route. He and other characters from the show appeared frequently at children's events and charity functions. Mr. Rogers himself, as I found out one day, lived a mere two blocks from me.