Bob Keeshan

He was "Captain Kangaroo" (CBS, 1955-1984), the man behind the longest-running kids' TV show in history. Decked out in his strange bright red blazer with white piping, the Captain read books aloud, got pelted with ping-pong balls, hung out with a farmer - basically, he made preschoolers feel special. Off camera, he denounced television and fought against the evolution of TV into an electronic babysitter that, he felt, spewed violence and …