Officer Clemmons

A Memoir

By: Dr. François S. Clemmons

Narrated by: Dr. François S. Clemmons

Officer Clemmons: A Memoir 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 François - 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.

©2020 François S. Clemmons (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"It's important to acknowledge heroes who build bridges between all of us. Officer Clemmons offers readers the unique opportunity to understand how one man’s life can have an unexpected, positive impact on millions of people. By sharing his lived truth, his artistic journey, and his friendship with Fred Rogers, Dr. Clemmons has written a memoir from a place of love and faith, in both God and in the power of music, as a gift to the world." --Common, Grammy Award-, Academy Award-, and Golden Globe-winning musician, actor, activist, and author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Let Love Have the Last Word

"Clemmons, who played Officer Clemmons on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, tells of his life as a gay African-American in the postwar era, in this uplifting memoir.... Clemmons's thoroughly delightful, inspiring story will speak particularly to artists in marginalized communities." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The extraordinary story of one of Mister Rogers' most groundbreaking and endearing 'neighbors,' Officer Clemmons.... A dear friend of Rogers for three decades, Clemmons offers a firsthand account of his work on Rogers' show, a story intertwined with the author's remarkable career as an operatic singer, actor, playwright, and choir director.... A heartwarming story that explores the power of friendship as well as race, sexuality, talent, and identity." --Kirkus Reviews

"Clemmons's voice is serene and unwavering as he paints a vivid picture of his difficult upbringing, which was marked by violence, abuse, discrimination, and confusion about his sexuality.… This expertly narrated audiobook leaves nothing to be desired as Clemmons gives listeners a glimpse of the life of the groundbreaking Officer Clemmons." —AudioFile Magazine

"Narrating with a colorful cadence, Clemmons shares deeply affecting reflections on life as a Black, gay, ordained person of the theater. Listeners hear the pain of his abusive family life, the tender thrill of first relationships in the closeted '60s, and the outrage of discrimination during the dawn of the civil rights movement." —Booklist

Embracing tolerance

This autobiography is one of the most moving and important books I have ever read. Hearing Clemmons read it helps you imagine the richness of his unique personality.

This is Francois Clemmons’ story, not Mr Rogers

I picked up a hardcover of Officer Clemmons when it came out several years ago, but I just never got around to reading it. I was looking for a change of pace and picked up the audiobook a couple of days ago, and the audiobook is the right choice for this book. I am highly in favor of authors reading their nonfiction books in most cases. And this is an excellent example of why. Francois Clemmons knows his own story, and he can narrate it with the right emotion and inflection. He occasionally (not as much as I would prefer) sings when discussing one of the songs in the book. The story comes alive in a way that I do not think would have happened for me in print.

I have read many books by or about Mister Rogers, as did Clemmons. He says in the opening that when he decided to tell his own story of Mister Rogers, he read every book he could find and determined that his contribution could be telling the story as a Black Gay man because none of the other books had that perspective. Officer Clemmons is primarily a book about Francois Clemmons, not Mister Rogers—several reviews I have seen complained about that point. Francois and Fred Rogers met when Francois was in graduate school in Pittsburg and had a job as a singer at the Rogers’ church. It was Fred Rogers wife Joanne that Francois came to know first. And she and the music director at the church made sure that he met Fred. But that part of the story does not come until more than halfway through the book.

I am glad that there are many memoirs of people that were of the age to be in the civil rights era. People of that era are passing away quickly, and we must pay attention to their stories. Francois was born to a sharecropper family. The early violence, both racial and domestic violence, matters to his story. Early in the book, he tells the story of how the local landowners pressured his grandmother for sex for years. She complied because the threat of violence and repercussion were real. She was protecting her family and doing what the culture expected. At one point, her husband said she was not there when the landowner came to get her, and the landowners just shot him in cold blood. There was no legal intervention. No police came, and no inquiry was made. And this was not counted in any of the counts of lynching. At this point, Francois’ grandmother had never lived anywhere other than that home, a home that had not been painted in her memory. There is more to the story that is also tragic and important, but the proximate cause of Clemmons’ family to move from the south to Youngstown, OH, was ongoing domestic violence from his father. His grandmother tried to protect Francois’ mother and siblings from the violence, including shooting and wounding his father when his father attempted to force them to move back home.

In many ways, Youngstown was better, but it was not perfect. Racism was still prevalent even though the schools had been desegregated. And domestic violence was still a factor in his life. Eventually, after his stepfather beat him quite severely for going to a concert, he moved out into a friend’s home, a local pastor’s family. His parents attempted to go to the school to force Francois to move back home about a month after that last beating, but Francois resisted. In front of the principal and his parents and the pastor, and his wife, that was allowing him to stay with him, he took off his shirt to show the scars and bruises of the beatings. The (white) principal negotiated for Francois to continue to live with the pastor and his wife and for his parents not to interfere with the threat of reporting the violence to the police.

There are too many stories to tell here about racism, poverty, and grappling with his sexuality. But I want to talk about the discussion of sexuality in the book. The book opens with the ongoing sexual assault of his grandmother. That story matters, even though it is a harrowing story to hear. And throughout the book, Clemmons’ sexuality matters. It was not just that he was a black man coming of age in the 1960s; he was a black gay man coming of age in the 1960s. Discussion of his grappling with the desire for men and not women, and how his conservative Christian church influenced that understanding of sexuality matters. He discusses his sexual awakening, love for other men, and the need to hide that from the public. And he discusses how Fred Rogers told him he could not be openly gay if he were going to remain on the show. Sex is not discussed to titillate, but culturally some find the discussion that gay sex occurred to be inappropriate. And if that is you, you do not want to pick this book up.

It is also worth noting that while Clemmons accepts Christianity as a whole, he did move toward the Unitarian/Universalist community as an adult. I would have liked more about that, but all the reader gets is the acknowledgments where he thanks his church community. The Christianity of his childhood, while loved for its support of him and giving him the spirituals, does deserve the critique he gives. His stepfather and mother are prime examples. They oppose his coming out as gay and push him into marriage with a woman because of their understanding of Christian sexual ethics. But his stepfather literally forces him to go to a prostitute to try to “change” him straight, and Clemmons has to escape out of a bathroom window and run away. His mother again is concerned about his sexuality, but not about enough about his personhood to stop the violence against him. There are many Christians in the book that show Francois love and care. But there are also many people who rejected Christianity that also showed him love and care.

The book is heavily oriented toward Clemmons early years. About 2/3 of the book covers his first 25 years or so. There is very little about what it was like to be on the show. The portions about Fred Rogers were about Fred Rogers as a person and mentor, not really Fred Rogers as a tv personality. I would have liked more about his later years, but I also hate to complain about what authors focus on; it is their story to tell.

Fascinating story of one of Mr Rogers " neighbors"

Dr Clemmons has quite a life story of struggle, hardship, discrimination, talent, friendship, music, travel, and triumph. One of his most enduring friendships was with Fred Rogers...who was the same person many of us grew up watching on TV. Told with enthusiasm by the author along with some singing in his gorgeous tenor voice. Highly recommended!

A Memoir of Survival

I purchased this audiobook because of Dr. Clemmons connection to Fred Rogers's television show. Listening to the memoir makes clear there is a lot more to his eventful life. Dr. Clemmons has survived many challenges, including discrimination and abuse as a child. Through it all, Dr. Clemmons
demonstrates through both the text and his enthusiastic narration an exuberance and optimism about life. Bottom line: survive and thrive!

A must read, absolutely beautiful!

If you’re looking for a book about Mister Rogers, you won’t find it here. What you will find is a story of overcoming challenges in sexuality, racism, forgiveness, and ultimately kindness. I felt amazed throughout this book at the incredible kindness and acceptance that Francois showed to everyone in his life, regardless of his own inner feelings. I am so thankful to have been able to read/listen about his life. I was moved to tears several times, and I thoroughly enjoyed your dictation! Thank you for writing this book.

Coming of Age as a Gay, Black Man

I really wanted to like this book, but I've quit reading about halfway through because the topic is about coming of age is a gay, black man. It's a well-crafted tale and delivered with great dramatic flair by the author who is trained in music and theater. But, I bought the book to learn the author's work with Mr Rogers and gain greater insight into the production of that television show and the decisions that were made around social justice and equity as part of the educational narrative for the target audience. The narrative setup to get to that point is way too long and includes a level of sexual coming of age that is not of interest to me. I may check out the print copy of the book from the library in order to skim ahead to the sections about the author's work with Mr Rogers.

Tremendous Tale by a Talented Tenor

Dr. François Clemmons’ memoir is a masterpiece and sounds dulcet in his own voice!!! Most certainly worth a listen because it is infused with passionate recollections, poignant perspectives and intriguing narrative.

Well worth the time!

His narration was different, but captivating. His life story is amazing, and his accomplishments grand. He presented Fred Rogers with great love and t was interesting to see his take on the “Neighborhood.” One of the best purchases I have made with Audible.
Dave Aardappel

Vivid storytelling with vocal cameos!

A vivid self-portrait of a young man's coming of age in 20th century America. The author's innocence and good nature rings through, despite experiences of family violence, and societal racism and homosexuality. Half-way through the book, Fred Rogers is introduced to his life, where he remains a shining father-figure and gracious example of love, kindness and caring. The book ends with an uplifting note, and thoughts to chew on during a polarized contemporary society. "Be kind", is the parting message.

Interesting and Uplifting

Officer Clemmons lifted my spirit in the dark days of Covid-19. I'm most grateful. I think highly of Mr. Rogers, but I'm too old to have enjoyed the program as a child. Francois Clemmons' story in itself is compelling if you want to understand the lives of men who are gay and/or black in America. Many of the issues persist to the present day.

In the interest of appealing to more readers and critics, it makes sense that the book trails off in 2003 with the death of Mr. Rogers. And it makes sense that the book is transparent about Francois Clemmons inner life up to the point that he meets Mr. Rogers. But I would like to see the rest of the story, what happens to Francois Clemmons after 2003? What else happened after he met Mr. Rogers? The book ended too soon.