detonate.net - Its a sad day in the neighborhood... :(

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Fred Rogers, better known as television's "Mister Rogers," a cultural icon and kindly neighbor to generations of American children, died Thursday at the age of 74.

Rogers died at his home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, after a brief battle with stomach cancer, according to a spokeswoman for his production company.

David Newell, a Rogers family spokesman, told The Associated Press that Rogers was exactly as he appeared on TV.

"He was so genuinely, genuinely kind, a wonderful person," said Newell, who played Mr. McFeely on the show. "His mission was to work with families and children for television. ... That was his passion, his mission, and he did it from Day One."

Rogers began developing his ideas for children's programming in the 1950s. He is best known for "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," which began in its early form in 1963 as a show on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

Rogers took the idea to the United States and in 1967, the first "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" aired on Pittsburgh's WQED. A year later, PBS picked it up.

The last original "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" aired in 2001, making it PBS's longest-running program ever.

Rogers emphasized his advocacy for children in a 1993 speech, when he was honored for 25 years on the air nationally.

"We have to remember to whom the airwaves belong, and we must put as great an emphasis on the nurturing of the human personality as we can," he said.