Bob Ross got 200 fan letters per day. If regular letter-writers fell out of touch, he'd phone them, just to see if they were ok

Bob Ross entertained a generation of people on America’s PBS network during the 80s and 90s, before his death in 1995. The Joy of Painting ran for 11 years between 1983-1994 as an instructional TV show focused heavily on landscape painting tutorials. Bob's instructional series became very popular, translating into a $15 million business, which included how-to books, classes, and videos. His soft, gentle descriptive tone while painting, his trademark afro (a style originally cultivated to cut costs) made his show extremely popular and even more than two decades after Ross' passing, this popularity persists. Ross donated much of his profits to PBS or painting classes (all of his paintings he gave to PBS), demonstrating the man’s philanthropy and kindness, in addition to talent. His generosity did not stop there, Ross received up to 200 letters a day from fans and built a correspondence with them, sending paintings to people whose stories touched him the most at Christmas. Moreover, if regular writers stopped contacting him, Ross would often call them to check if they were okay, showing a real dedication and concern for fans.

Nowadays, not only is The Joy of Painting still repeated worldwide, the show has experienced somewhat of a Renaissance online. The widespread availability of YouTube has meant that much of the old and unavailable content is now streamed online, with Bob Ross having his dedicated channel. Over half a million people on YouTube have subscribed to the channel, with content being regularly uploaded (with 508 videos and counting). One video has even garnered nearly 3 million views online. Three million is not quite on the level of his former 80 million viewers, but with the help of the digital age, the mellow and relaxing legacy of this iconic painter continues for all to enjoy.

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