If you are looking for a heartwarming new read, Dr. François Clemmons delivers with his beautifully rendered debut memoir, Officer Clemmons. The man behind the groundbreaking character on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood has led an adventurous life, full of ups and downs, struggles and successes. And he certainly never could have imagined how meeting Fred Rogers would influence and change his life, both personally and professionally.
In this memoir, Dr. Clemmons intimately shares the immense role Fred Rogers played in his world — not just as a mentor, but also as a father figure who showed him the power of unconditional love, support, and acceptance in ways he never experienced with his own family. Yet this relationship was not without its struggles. At Roger’s insistence, Dr. Clemmons was compelled to hide who he truly was from the public in order to prevent possible repercussions for the show. He was also forced to confront the complicated relationship between police officers and the black community as he took on a role that Rogers intended to be a “helper,” when the reality he had experienced in his own life ran contrary to this.
The real heart and soul of this book, however, is that Dr. Clemmons tells his entire life story, starting with family history that even precedes his birth. While the parts that delve into his very personal relationship with Fred Rogers are remarkable, the reading experience is enriched by the context of Dr. Clemmons’ life as a whole. In fact, the reader is over 150 pages into the book before Dr. Clemmons even meets Fred Rogers! Yet everything leading up to this chance encounter is just as interesting and important as the events that follow. Dr. Clemmons shares his bond with his Granddaddy Saul as a young child, a relationship which introduced him to the magic of storytelling and music. He speaks to the powerful influence of women in his formative years. He also discusses how he leaned on music to cope with the conflict in his home and immersed himself in books to escape the difficulties of the world around him.
Dr. Clemmons also relays many passions outside of Mister Rogers Neighborhood which the reader may not be familiar with. He discusses his experience as a touring opera singer, the original career choice for which he was specially trained. He reflects on his time as the founder and director of the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble and he shares stories about his years serving as a choral director and the Alexander Twilight Artist-In Residence at Middlebury College.
In short, Dr. Clemmons bares his soul in this book, sharing everything from traumatic experiences growing up to the racism he has encountered and his journey to embrace his sexuality. He shares painfully difficult experiences with discrimination which led him to hide his true essence in his earlier years, to feel as though he were an outsider. He discusses how he found solace in faith despite the conflicts between what the church told him was acceptable and who he knew he was inside. And throughout it all he has remained a shining light, a beautiful soul, showing “grit” as he likes to say.
Because of his personal relationship with Fred Rogers, Dr. Clemmons is able to provide a unique, never-before-seen perspective of the beloved childrens’ show host. Fans of Mister Rogers and memoirs alike will not want to miss this one!
Officer Clemmons is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of May 5th 2020. Many thanks to Catapult for providing an advance copy of this amazing book. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
Dr. François S. Clemmons received a bachelor of music degree from Oberlin College and a master of fine arts from Carnegie Mellon University. He also received an honorary doctor of arts degree from Middlebury College. In 1973, he won a Grammy Award for a recording of Porgy and Bess; in 1986, he founded and directed the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble; and from 1997 until his retirement in 2013, Clemmons was the Alexander Twilight Artist in Residence and director of the Martin Luther King Spiritual Choir at Middlebury College in Vermont, where he currently resides.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Details the incredible life story of François Clemmons, beginning with his early years in Alabama and Ohio, marked by family trauma and loss, through his studies as a music major at Oberlin College, where Clemmons began to investigate and embrace his homosexuality, to a chance encounter with Fred Rogers which changed the whole course of both men’s lives, leading to a deep, spiritual friendship and mentorship spanning nearly forty years.
When he earned the role as “Officer Clemmons” on the award-winning television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Clemmons made history as the first African American actor to have a recurring role on a children’s program. A new, wide world opened for Francois — but one which also required him to make painful personal choices, and sacrifices.
From New York to the Soviet Union, Berlin to California, Clemmons has performed for audiences around the world, and remains a beloved figure. Evocative and intimate, and buoyed by its author’s own vivacious, inimitable energy, Officer Clemmons chronicles a historical and enlightening life and career of a man who has brought joy to millions of adults and children, across generations and borders.
