Huell Howser and Palm Springs
Overview
Huell Burnley Howser was born October 18, 1945, the son of
Harold and Jewell Howser. He is best known as an American television
personality, actor, voice artist, and comedian. His best known work was his PBS
documentary series,California’s Gold,
and as the voice of Backson in the Winnie
the Pooh film. His name is often confused for Howell Huser, who is a tourist
and undercover TV personality in Springfield on The Simpsons. There, he appeared on the episode “O Brother, Where
Bart Thou?” in which the character hosted a show that was comically similar to
his Food Network show,Unwrapped.
He later retired from his career after suffering from
prostate cancer for several years. He died on January 7, 2013 in Palm Springs,
California of cancer at the age of 67. That same month, an episode called “A
Test before Trying” premiered to honor his death and featured his character in
remembrance of him.
Background
He was born in Gallatin, Tennessee and was named after a
combination of his parents’ names, Harold and Jewell, which was shown on the California’s Gold episode “Smartsville.”
He attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and served as student body
president while attending. He received a B.A. in history and served in the US
Marine Corps and on the staff of Senator Howard Backer. He didn’t begin his TV
career until he started working at WSM-TV in Nashville, Tennessee, which is
known as the heart of the country music scene. There, he made a human interest
series that contained stories.
Afterwards, he worked in New York as the host of WCBS-TV’s Real Life show. He got a job as a
reporter for KCBS-TV in 1981 and moved to Los Angeles. In the coming years, he
became a weekend host and correspondent for Entertainment
Tonight. In 1985, he was on board the Los Angeles TV station KCET, which
was a PBS affiliate back them and was a producer of Videolog. The covered topics that included things that were
important to the Los Angeles area and those neighboring it. Huell was a pretty
busy guy with all these opportunities that later came his way. He ended up
working two decades on public television stations.
Career
In Howser’s career, he is best known for the personality he
bought to his work. In California’s Gold,
he took a very magazine-style approach. It was clear, simple, and casual. He
hosted many programs from “Visiting with Huell Howser” to “Road Trip with Huell
Howser” to name a few. His style was welcoming and personal during his
interviews at various restaurants, schools, and other community places he
visited.
According to an LA
Times columnist named Howard Rosenberg, his style was “magnificently
un-slick.”
With all respect to Howard, polished interviews and
sophistication wasn’t what Howser was really aiming for. In fact, in a post on
CalGold.com (Huell Howser Productions website), he wrote, "We operate on
the premise that TV isn’t brain surgery. People’s stories are what it’s all
about…If you have a good story, it doesn’t have to be overproduced. I want our
stories to reveal the wonders of the human spirit and the richness of life in
California, including its history, people, culture, and natural wonders."
Nor does it seem that the KCET station in Southern
California was aiming for refined entertainment, stating on their website about
Howser that he "elevated the simple joys and undiscovered nuggets of
living in our great state. He made the magnificence and power of nature seem
accessible by bringing it into our living rooms. Most importantly, he reminded
us to find the magic and wonderment in our lives every day."
This speaks wonders about the legacy of Howser as an
everyday man turned entertainer. His personality really matched with his California’s Gold program, which
highlighted small towns, landmarks, events, and similar places of interest. In
a way, it served as a sharing of a common human connection that seems that for
his whole career he was trying to deliver with enthusiasm. Other shows he
produced along the same thread include California’s
Communities, California’s Golden Fairs, Downtown, California’s Water,
California’s Green, California’s Golden Coast, California’s Golden Parks,
California Missions, Palm Springs, Our Neighborhoods, and The Bench.(And yes, if you’re wondering,
there are actually more than these.)
Palm Springs
Huell Howser hosted the Palm
Springs series from 2001 to 2010 for 34 total episodes. In the show, he
toured famous resort destinations in Palm Springs. Later, in 2012, the Sacramento Bee reported that Howser was
retiring from making new shows. Many speculated in the community that he was
sick. Nine months before his 67th birthday, he died after battling
prostate cancer for two years. He spend the last two months of his life in his
home in Palm Springs. Initially,it was thought that his death was due to
natural causes, but after examination, it was discovered that Howser’s death
was caused by metastatic prostate cancer. His body was cremated thereafter, and
his ashes were scattered in a sea near Los Angeles County.
Palm Springs Walk of Stars
Out of the names in the Palm Springs Walk of Stars,
containing more than 300 stars among its rank, there is missing one. A fan of
Huell Howser named Kay Adkins noticed this and made an account in his honor to
try to get the personality’s name in the Palm Springs Walk of Stars. Adkins
explains that "Palm Springs is the only single geographic area he focused
on. He loved this area that much." This can be seen in his enthusiasm and
focus on the area and even in his spending his final days in the area. Right
now, the account to get his name included in the Palm Springs Walk of Stars is
still up and running for those who believe in the tribute to Huell Howser’s
legacy(
http://www.gofundme.com/HuellHowser).
Legacy
Howser left a lot behind for all of us. He left an
enthusiastic celebration of Californian history and the culture. OC Weekly editor Gustavo Arellano noted
that, for Howser, California was the "ultimate temple of the American
dream." Besides being great at entertaining people, he was unashamed of
his enthusiasm for the state’s history.
In 2011, a year before he
retired, he donated his videotaped collection of
California’s Gold episodes and many others from other series to
Chapman University.
Using this and his
donations of his personal papers and a large collection of books on
California’s history, they created the Huell Howser Archive. The Archive is
complete, free to the public, and includes the entire collection of his work.
It can be found at Chapman University in person or online. He gifted the
California’s Gold Scholarship Fund to which he gave his remaining two homes to
the university. The money that was given for the sale was added to the
scholarship fund. California’s Gold Scholarship Endowment is given to students
who “demonstrate a positive outlook and are actively pursuing ways to improve
society as altruistic change agents.” And there is the California’s Gold
Collection Endowment, which is given to a student who “maintains Huell Howser’s
gift of his videos, digital archives, artifacts, memorabilia,
and book collection.”
Rest in Peace Huell Howser. We miss you.
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