"Bob reversed the idea that you need talent to paint" -- but we loved him anyway. Remember Bob Ross, he of the auburn 'fro, the soothing monotone, and the "happy little squirrels"? Nine years after he passed on into the great pastel seascape in the sky, his memory lives on in a global merchandising empire...and why not? I agree with the franchise guy in this article -- people long to create, to play, and find expression, without judgment, so anyone who gets them dabbling with paint is OK by me. When I taught art to middle schoolers, it was so dispiriting how tentative and pessimistic they were about their own abilities -- they would say, "Oh I can't, I'm no good at art," or, "Does this look good? Is this right?" When you have to help twelve-year-olds get back in touch with their inner child, there's something awry in our culture, methinks. I nominate Christopher Lowell to carry the flame of "You can do it!" to all crafty Americans!