Do they remember the way he had that friendly rivalry with Big Bird?
"Hi, Mr. Looper", he would say.
"HOOPER, Hooper", came the response.
Mr. Hooper was good. Mr. Hooper was nice. He made good egg creams and read Yiddish newspapers. One day when the air conditioner was broken he made a new one out of a fan and a block of ice.
Do the kids today remember Mr. Hooper? They probably don't. They're all watching Barney. And they probably don't even remember when Mr. Snuffelupagus was still imaginary.
Then one day, Big Bird drew everybody's picture and he wanted to show Mr. Hooper the one he made for him.
"Where's Mr. Hooper?", he said.
"Mr. Hooper's not here. Mr. Hooper's dead and he's not coming back."
