] Officer Clemmons
By Fran?ois S. Clemmons
Details the incredible life story of Fran?ois 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,
