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48 The College of New Jersey Magazine 10 things you need to know about … MR. ROGERS With a burst of renewed interest in the late beloved children's television host, including a movie starring Tom Hanks slated for October, Fred Rogers is making a comeback. Rightfully so, says professor Warren Buckleitner, who teaches "Topics in Interactive Media: The Methods of Fred Rogers." With so much negative discourse in today's society, Buckleitner says, "We all could use a little kindness from Fred." —Kara Pothier 7. In 2003, the International Astronomical Union named an asteroid Misterrogers. Located about 218 million miles from the sun, it orbits between Mars and Jupiter. 6. For Joshua Albright '20, the best part of the trip was playing Rogers' grand piano. "It was kept tuned in case it was ever to be played. I was lucky enough to do so." 9. Rogers weighed 143 pounds most of his adult life. He loved that number: "It takes one letter to say I and four letters to say love and three letters to say you." 4. "If Rogers had a type of superpower, it would be that he was unintimidated by social status," says Buckleitner. TCNJ X10 1. Buckleitner says Rogers, who believed children deserved quality media, was an accidental television star. Said Rogers: "I went into TV because I hated it so." THE LYNN JOHNSON COLLECTION: OHIO UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 10. Biggest takeaway from the course: "Removing all the bad is impossible," says Albright. "All we can do is make more good." 2. A trained musician, Rogers wrote 200 songs for the show, including the opening theme "Won't You Be My Neighbor." 3. Rogers believed in three paths to success: "The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind." 8. Buckleitner says learning that Rogers was insecure as a child helped his students to talk about their own anxieties. 5. Buckleitner took his students to the Fred Rogers Center in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. The archive contains more than 18,000 items, from the show's trolley to the puppets to Rogers' handwritten notes.