It's the End of an Era: Lavar Burton Leaves Reading Rainbow

So, one of my favorite Halloween memories - and quite arguably one of the most magical moments of my life - is from my senior year in high school. My friend Lorna and I decided to go trick-or-treating despite our advanced age. We chose a relatively upscale neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley, reasoning the quality of the treats would reflect the socioeconomic status of the neighborhood's inhabitants. We also decided to wear the dumbest costumes ever: I wore an orange, red, and yellow top I knit myself that made me look kind of like a slutty lifesaver and Lorna wore an afro wig. What can I say? We were pretty stupid (I blame it on peer pressure). After an hour or so of nasty comments about how we were too old to be trick-or-treating we rang the bell to a house and Lavar Burton wearing a pirate costume answered the door - I couldn't believe it. After he "yarred" at us in his best pirate accent, I shrieked, "oh my god! I love Reading Rainbow" and then began to sing the Reading Rainbow theme song (you know: "butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high, take a look, it's in a book"... etc.). And you know what? He started singing with me.

That, my friends, is class.

After producing and hosting the show for twenty years, Burton has announced he is leaving Reading Rainbow because a lame eductional services company (the same people who own Sylvan Learning Center and Hooked on Phonics) bought production rights for the show. Read more here about how awesome Burton is for not selling out and how reading has inspired him throughout his life.