Title: Growing Up in Mister Rogers’ REAL Neighborhood
Author: Chris Rodell
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 978-1-5320-8083-8
Pages: 200
Genre: Biography/Autobiography/Memoir
Synopsis
In a world that cries out for civility and healing, this is the only book about Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood by an author who actually calls the place home. Known for his joyful humor, author Chris Rodell tells the story of how Latrobe influenced a young Fred Rogers, how the adult Fred Rogers influenced Latrobe and how both combined to influence him and the world. It relates how visionary educators are beginning to equate Mister Rogers with spiritual leaders like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. It tells the stories of couples he married, souls he saved and asks if calling him “Christ-like” is blasphemous or accurate. It has previously untold stories of Rogers being a life-saving superhero and of him being perfectly human. Governor Tom Ridge in his admiring foreword says: “Rodell writes about Latrobe and its native son the way Sinatra sings about New York, unflinching about the gritty realities, but with abiding affection and relentless positivity about the future.” In the end, the book is about how we can turn the entire planet into Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood beginning inside our very own hearts.
About the Author
Chris Rodell is the author of, “Growing Up in the REAL Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood: Life Lessons from the Heart of Latrobe, Pennsylvania.” Governor Tom Ridge says in the “REAL” foreword: “Rodell writes about Latrobe the way Sinatra sings about New York, unflinching about the gritty realities, but with abiding affection and relentless positivity about the future.”
His recent books include “Arnold Palmer: Homespun Stories Of The King,” the quirky book about his oddball friendship with one of the planet’s most popular and beloved men. He’s also released “Use All The Crayons! The Colorful Guide To Simple Human Happiness,” and “The Last Baby Boomer: The Story of the Ultimate Ghoul Pool,” a novel that was bestowed the 2017 TINARA Award for Outstanding Satire. In Rodell’s career as a freelance writer, he has wrestled alligators, raced Ferraris, gone skydiving and gained twenty pounds in one week eating like Elvis. He lives in Latrobe with his wife Valerie, their daughters, Josie and Lucy, and a small loud dog named Snickers.
Chris Rodell can be booked to entertain your group with “Fred Rogers & the Soulful Benefits of Being Defiantly Kind,” and other happy topics. He can be reached at 724 961-2558; stpryteller@chrisrodell.com
