Our neighborhood loses a friend...

Madison civic leader Jeff Erlanger passed away Sunday night. A long-time advocate for disabled rights, Erlanger had been making an impact on the lives of others since he was a child. He never let his disability hold him back.

When he was just 10 years old, Erlanger made a well-known guest appearance on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. In a segment that Fred Rogers insisted be unscripted, the young Erlanger discussed his disability and the wheelchair he used on a daily basis. Singing the song "It's You I Like" together, Rogers altered the lyrics to point out that it wasn't Erlanger's "fancy chair" that was special, but the boy that used it who was.

In 1999, Erlanger made a surprise appearance in Los Angeles to induct Rogers into the TV Academy Hall of Fame. He also discussed his early appearance on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in a WPT-produced segment a few years ago. Watch that clip in the window below:



Erlanger also spoke at Rogers' memorial service in 2003.

Below are links to a number of recent local remembrances of Erlanger's life and the impact he made on the people that he met.

Madison civic activist Jeff Erlanger dies
-Wisconsin State Journal

Jeff Erlanger, advocate for disabled, dies
-The Capital Times

Remembering Jeff Erlanger
-The Isthmus

Erlanger was a real treasure
-Doug Moe in The Capital Times