"Mr. Wizard" Dies

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

13 Jun 2007 10:10 AM

He was considered a miracle worker (of sorts) in our home. "Mr. Wizard" was one of the only people who could provide my parents with peace and quiet (if only for 30 minutes). His science show was riveting and when it was on all six of us would be glued to the TV trying to figure out which one of his experiments we could recreate in our own home. Now "Mr. Wizard" is gone.

Don Herbert, who was known to millions of kids as science whiz "Mr. Wizard" died yesterday. He was 89. According to news reports, Herbert passed away at his California home from bone cancer.

SIGH!

I can't tell you how many hours my brothers and I spent watching "Mr. Wizard" then raiding the kitchen for an empty mayonnaise jar so we could send streams of green and purple fizz into the air.

We were big fans of his '80s show "Mr. Wizard's World" on Nickelodeon. Back then we didn't realize that Herbert's science character had been introduced decades earlier on NBC. "Watch Mr. Wizard," which was set in a science classroom, debuted in 1951 and won a Peabody Award in 1954 and ran until 1964. By the 1980's Herbert was so popular that he was asked to be a guest on the 1982 premiere episode of "Late Night with David Letterman."

"He really taught kids how to use the thinking skills of a scientist," former colleague Steve Jacobs told news reporters yesterday. "He modeled how to predict and measure and analyze. ... The show today might seem slow, but it was in-depth and forced you to think along. You were learning about the forces of nature."

I will be the first to admit that I was never a fan of science or math, but I was entranced by "Mr. Wizard's" eye-popping experiments that featured everyday household items. He had a great TV persona: even-tempered, spoke in a calm voice, and used terms that didn't zoom over our heads. He made us feel that we could recreate his experiments with no problem. (My mother can testify that our attempts were not very successful.)

Before morphing into a legendary TV personality, Herbert served as a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot during World War II. He also dabbled in acting and modeling. Herbert is survived by six children and stepchildren and by his second wife.

I wonder if they know what an impact their father and husband had on a budding... journalist?

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Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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