Today, March 20, is Mister Rogers’ birthday; he passed away on February 27, 2003; if he was still alive he would be 84.

To celebrate him, PBS will be airing a new documentary called “Mister Rogers & Me,” which is about MTV producer Benjamin Wagner’s experience living in a summer home in Nantucket next to the famous entertainer. The documentary will also be available on iTunes and DVD.

Mister Rogers was a performer, educator, and motivational speaker. His absurd cardigan-and-Keds style made children feel that they could trust him. He taught many kids how to tie their shoes, find self-worth, and make friends.

Maura Judkis’s father was the photographer for Rogers’s series of children’s books and would occasionally bring her to work with him. She was on several shows and wrote an article for The Washington Post.

In her article she says that, “Mister Rogers cared deeply for children, and each time I met him, I always remember him crouching down to talk to me at my level, so he could look me in the eyes. When my then 2-year-old brother had cancer, Mister Rogers, who was deeply religious, told my father that he prayed for him every day.”

Rogers is clearly the Jesus Christ of PBS: “Rogers … rented out an amusement park near his hometown of Latrobe, Pa., for the children of his employees every summer. One year, a ride based on his show was opened in the park, and Mister Rogers chose my brother, whose hair was still growing back from the chemo, to share a seat with him for what my father said was his first-ever ride on the attraction that bore his name.”

Wagner made the documentary to indoctrinate adults with the examples Mister Rogers set for them.

Here is another clip from Mister Rogers & Me: