Exonian Profiles
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Barry Head ’54: Nurturing the ‘Origine’
In homes all across America, Mister Rogers still puts on his sneakers and sweater, and the trolley still “ding, ding, dings” its way to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. After nearly 40 years, however, Rogers’ cast of kindly adults and endearing puppets has ended the production of new episodes for the PBS series that has been bringing “a beautiful day in the neighborhood” to several generations of 2- to 5-year-olds. Last July in a White House ceremony, Fred Rogers joined the august ranks of outstanding Americans to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. A longtime member of Rogers’ crew is Barry N. Head ’54, P’86, who has worked with Fred Rogers for some 30 years—as writer, producer, vice president and now board member of Rogers’ nonprofit company, Family Communications, Inc. It has been quite a trolley trip for Head, who began his career at the legendary children’s program with a six-month assignment to develop program segments addressing the needs of children with disabilities. He went on to work with Rogers to create audio and video tapes and books for children with special needs and their families. He also wrote a syndicated newspaper column and co-authored three books with Rogers. These three volumes—Mister Rogers Talks With Parents, Mister Rogers’ Playbook and Mister Rogers’ How Families Grow—examine key areas of the development of youngsters and their families. Head is especially interested in play. “The capacity to play is essential for all of us all our lives,” he says. “It is never frivolous, and in early childhood it is truly serious business. Play may be the most important way children work out their concerns and express the feelings that are important to them.” With its puppet segments, songs and gentle chats, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” mystifies many grownups, but, Head explains, that’s because it addresses “the often turbulent feelings of 2- to 5- year-olds. Most of us, as adults, can’t remember our powerful emotions at that age. Fred Rogers not only studied early child development, but also, with the help of remarkable professionals in the field, found ways to tap back into his own early feelings,” Head says. Becoming steeped in the world of young children also revealed to Head a lot about himself. “That academy motto, Finis origine pendet, isn’t just dead-language nonsense,” he says. “Ends do depend on their beginnings in so many ways. My work with Fred over the years, developing materials that are supportive of a child’s earliest self-concept—his or her origine—brought me face-to-face with my own beginnings and how I came to be the person I am today.” That knowledge has proved useful in Head’s current undertakings as both a writer and a painter. Five years ago he stopped commercial writing and decorative painting, and now spends his mornings as a playwright and his afternoons “making my own kind of marks” on canvas. His plays range from short, sometimes humorous pieces to full-length, serious works—one of which is slated for a reading in early November in New York. There’s also what Head calls “a huge, musical, dark comedy” (for which he wrote the book and lyrics) out there looking for a concert-reading opportunity. “Talk about Finis origine pendet!” says Head. “Just try writing a play! As one teacher said to me, ‘If you’re in trouble on the last page, you can be sure you’re in trouble on the first.’ Come to think of it, I suspect that same observation could apply equally to an infant’s journey through life.” —Julie Quinn |
