Have you heard the news that that over enthusiastic commentator, Huell Howser is retiring. Retiring from what? The most greatest job in the world. Having to travel almost every single inch of California and make the least little attraction a most amazing place or thing he has ever seen.
His southern twang while speaking, his smile at almost every shot of him and how his looks have changed over the years makes him a person to remember.
What is my favorite episode? Maybe the ones that I connected with most are the ones that I went to see for myself. When he presented the place, it seemed almost like a destination I had to go to. I even drove over 500 miles to see it. It was Discovery Park.
When I got there, it was difficult to enter. I remember what I saw was mud where the boats were launched. There were homeless men at the top of a hill, which he didn’t show and the restrooms were locked for security. I felt a bit uneasy, but I got to see what he saw. Later, when I moved in to northern California, I found out there was a bike path and hiking path running through it. I learned later not to go there, let alone alone from a large hiking club in Sacramento.
Some of the places he went to you could only see if you were with people in the area who knew the area and you were a special person, meaning someone who was going to give your area or business a boost in business.
Some of the places he went to, like shipyards and machine factories were interesting to me but not as much as the great outdoors places.
I remember he and his cameraman were hiking with a couple people and they got lost. You could tell in his tone of voice, he was pissed, tired and wondering if they would ever find their way. He had doubt in his voice about the people who were leading the hike. He was, like anybody else, kind of scared, disoriented a bit and getting a negative attitude about himself.
There was one time where the cameraman he had with him had a camera which stopped working so they were shooting with a hand held non-professional type camera. But it seemed his microphone always held always worked. I guess there was never a way to get his voice and the people he interviewed on a device where he didn’t have to have that microphone and wire hanging and into his back pocket. But I do believe I did see him with a cordless mic, so he did upgrade that part.
So what do you think he’ll be up to after he retires from PBS? He’ll travel the world making a series on that, one country at a time. He’ll sell that series on his own, make a bundle of money and sell that too. He’s still young, I’d say in his 50s, so he’s got plenty of time to rack up the dough and leave it to whom?
It didn’t seem he ever got married. People think he’s gay. Maybe so. So his lover will inherit all of what he put into his life making these series, plus he’ll write a book on Huell’s life. Huell will go down with a wonderful following of people saying and remembering him with very positive memories.
For a man who started out in the Army doing basically what he did in his TV life, interviewing soldiers in the Army, he did pretty well for himself on PBS.
So congratulations Huell on your retirement, you deserve it, you worked hard and we all enjoyed your endeavors. I look forward to seeing your reruns over and over again.
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