My Chance Lunch with Fred Rogers

Royals or celebrities have never been a draw for me, and you would not find me on the streets of Windsor or on Hollywood’s red carpets among the fawning crowds, gasping for breath at the sight of lavish jewels, couture gowns, and perfect bodies.

Nevertheless, I confess to my private, career-long weakness: a tempered smugness for having studied and walked with many of my discipline’s luminaries, including anointed and should-have-been Nobel Laureates. But among all the gifted people I have encountered, I am profoundly thankful to have accidentally fallen—albeit briefly—within the personal orbit of the world’s most revered “neighbor,” Fred Rogers.