For the Love of Big Bird
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I met Big Bird once. I was 4, maybe 5 years old. Mr. Rogers and Big Bird and a couple of other PBS characters were all at the local PBS station in DC and my patents took me and my sister.
Big Bird gave me one of the feathers off of his costume. Back then, I had no idea that a genius of a man named Kermit Love had been the one to suggest that Big Bird’s costume be designed so it would lose feathers left and right.
Kermit Love passed away at the age of 91 this past Saturday. He was the costume designers who assisted Jim Henson in the creation of Big Bird and several other Sesame Street characters, like Mr. Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster. He also designed the beloved Snuggle bear we all know from the fabric softener commercials.
His design flair was not limited to fuzzy characters though. He also designed for ballet choreographers.
If he have not read his recent book “The Wisdom of Big Bird (and the Dark Genius of Oscar the Grouch): Lessons From a Life in Feathers,” please do. It’s a worthy read.
Wait a sec. Forget Big Bird, anyone could have been in the suit. YOU MET MR. ROGERS???!!!
That is so cool.
I had the BIGGEST crush on Mr. Rogers. Meeting him was indeed a high point.
Fast forward to when I was in college and one of my math professors would tell us stories abotu how he and Fred Rogers went to college together in Pittsburgh. Apparently, Dr. Smith was once on Mr. Rogers’ show demonstrating how to paint designs on plates — one of his hobbies.
Come to think of it, I miss Dr. Smith as well. He has also since passed away.