Practically the only reason I wanted to watch the 2011 Winnie the Pooh was that I’d heard Huell Howser was in it. Turns out it’s only for a few seconds at the very end, but for a native Californian like myself, that was enough. The shock and sorrow we felt when he died is hard to explain to people who didn’t grow up with Videolog and California’s Gold. One of my most prized possessions is a VHS tape of the latter, because it’s signed. I found it in a book sale and keep it even though I don’t even have a VHS plugged in anywhere.
Howser, like so many others, was not a native Californian. He was, as his accent made clear, a native of Tennessee. He was a Marine Corps veteran, a graduate of the University of Tennessee. He’d worked on Howard Baker’s staff. And then, he made his way into television, focusing on human interest stories. He worked in Nashville and New York before moving to Los Angeles and KCBS, including doing segments on Entertainment Tonight. Then, in 1985, he started on KCET as producer and host of Videolog.
For the uninitiated, a quick summary. You know how, when you’re watching PBS, there are frequently five- or ten-minute gaps left by differences in program length between, for example, PBS and the BBC? In Los Angeles, those would be filled with Huell Howser showing you an interesting part of California, something you might not know. A former teacher of mine appeared on the segment once, a bit about the world’s largest wistaria plant, in Sierra Madre. She and her then-husband had a cute kid, so they actually asked the family to reenter so they could film them.
From there, California’s Gold, which was half-hour shows. The tape I have is about Kern County oil, something that might be familiar to fans of There Will Be Blood. But this was Howser looking at actual oil wells, still running in the ’90s. If there is any aspect of California’s history, ecology, cultural life, or anything else that interests you, there is likely to be a Videolog or a California’s Gold about it. And Howser seemed fascinated and delighted by all of it, making it that much more interesting for the audience. Like so many other transplants—immigrants, if you will—he genuinely loved his adopted home and wanted to share its wonders with everyone.
Today is the earliest I was able to write about him for this column according to my own rules. He died five years ago this past Sunday. I knew I needed to share him with people who might not have had the chance to get to know such a genuinely appealing man. In fact, a man who donated his whole archives to Chapman University, and his programs are available online here. Take your time and explore; I know I will. And, for the curious? “Huell” is a combination of his father, Harold, and his mother, Jewell.
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