Fact (or would be if I could remember the details anymore): When I lived in Philly, a guy I worked with at the department store I worked at had a friend from some part of the world who had his visa sponsored by Mr Rogers and/or lived at his house when he first came to the US cuz that was another thing Mr Rogers did: Help complete strangers come to 'Murica.

You're right, 35 seconds of that was more than I ever wanted to know.

Short version: He was a genuinely nice guy.

I was an acquaintance (volunteered at KQED for awhile) and he was pleasantly insistent about exactly how he wanted things done. Never raised his voice, but always managed to get what he wanted.

My son was about 5 when he wanted to go to meet Mr. Rogers. I sent him a letter (from Saudi Arabia where we lived), and received in a few weeks, a large envelope with a letter written absolutely by him, and it had a big fold-out trolley in it for my son to put on his wall. There was more stuff in the envelope, too, but he said his family always took their vacation when we were planning to be in town, so he sent his regrets that he would not be able to meet us.

I keep that letter in my file of precious, never-to-lose papers.