Wild Release #951

Today's adventure in BookCrossing took me to the North Shore of Pittsburgh and The Fred Rogers Memorial Statue near Heinz Field. Fred Rogers was the host of the popular long-running public television children's show "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," which debuted in Pittsburgh in 1967. It was picked up by PBS the next year, and became a staple of public TV stations around the United States. He began each show by coming in the front door of his TV home, trading his suit jacket for a cardigan sweater, and his dress shoes for a pair of tennis shoes. Sadly, Mr. Rogers died in 2003 after a short battle with stomach cancer. The nearly 11-foot bronze statue of Mr. Rogers, created by Robert Berks (who did the Albert Einstein statue in Washington, D.C.), is surrounded by a circular walkway and framed by a keyhole opening in the old Manchester Bridge pier. It is officially named the "Tribute to Children." I left my own tribute there—"Going on an Airplane," by Mr. Rogers, himself.