RIP Huell Howser "California's Gold"

[cuyeda]

RIP Huell Howser. For those of you not familiar with Huell, he was the iconic host of a long-running PBS travel program called "California's Gold". I really enjoyed the show on Teardrop Trailers, and was hoping for a follow up segment. I may have watched all of his shows, twice!

[canned o minimum]

He wasn't THAT old was he ? He will surely be missed !

[CarlLaFong]

"Well, will you look at that!!".
So long, Huell. Godspeed

[Ptomaine]

Huell was one of the few things I missed when I moved away from SoCal.

[Wolffarmer]

Crap, he was only 67 and retired in Nov.

I'm 62, I better hitch up the TD and start making tracks.

Randy

[mrsanderson]

Huell is one of the few "celebrities" I've been interested in meeting....guess I will have to wait until I get to heaven for that now. He has made many an evening enjoyable in our home and inspired many a road trip....Send a travelogue from up above Huell!! " Now isn't that interesting....are ya getting that Louie??!!"

[grant whipp]

Hey, Cliff!

If I'm not mistaken, Huel actually did a couple of follow-ups to the original 1997 show that was originally a "Visiting With Huel Howser" segment ... they did a "Guajome Re-visited" when a bunch went back there several years later (after moving the annual gathering to Sweetwater), and then he did the bit on Teardrops and Antique Camping Trailers for the RV Crazy trilogy. I could be wrong, as it's been a while since I've seen any of them (and, I am getting old ... ...!).

Anyway, I was stunned when Kay told me about his passing earlier this afternoon. Believe it or not, he actually was a helluva nice guy in real life, with the exact personality that he exuded in front of the camera! I remember him taping for three hours on the original Teardrop show in '97, then hanging out with all of us for at least two more hours ... Louie (his cameraman at the time) said he never hangs out for more than 15 minutes after a shoot, so we felt pretty darned honored! Try as we might, though, we couldn't convince him to hang around for the potluck dinner (who the hell passes on a free meal, anyway?) ... ...!

Huel will be missed! But, I will always have his voice in my head saying "Look at this, Louie! Come over here and get a shot of this!" RIP Mr. Howser ...

[cuyeda]

Grant, you would know better than I, thanks. I did a search on the catalog, and found these titles. I have at least two out of the three in my library, and will now have to check which ones I have.

California's Gold Shows Found:
#6001 TEARDROPS 2003
#609 TEARDROP TRAILERS 1998
#1 MOBILE AMERICA 2003

Unfortunately I have never met the man in person, and hoped to someday. I guess someday will never come. RIP Huell!

[Roly Nelson]

Damn, I just watched his shows about going to all of the corners of the state of Calif. How did he die, when did he die and what was the cause of his death? I really enjoyed his many shows, and I wonder if someone else will continue to enlighten us about California Gold. RIP, Huell.
Roly ~~

[cherokeegeorge]

I too am gonna miss Heull. He was a nice guy, MY wife has worked with him twice. Once when he did a show on The Salvation army and he did a show on Westwood Memorial Cemetary. My wife was the general manager. And I ran into him a year ago at a bar and grill,everybody wanted to get their picture with him (he was tanked) but couldn't have been nicer.

He was 67 and they immediatly said he died of natural causes. I'm not buying it though, a few months ago he just stopped coming to work and gave his home and everything associated with his shows to Chapman college. sadly i think there's more to this story.

RIP Mr. Howser He truly was......California Gold

[Dan & Julie CO]

Where would one find those segments online? I would like to see I'm sure others would as well

[Gage]

Sorry, I found them the other night and meant to post the URL here but for some reason didn't. Google Chapman College and Huell Howser all on the same line. That should work or at least get you close.

PS: Here's the link. http://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/

[Dan & Julie CO]

Thanks Gage I'll do that this weekend

[JuneBug]

Wow, this guy must be a state treasure! Should I we get to California one of these days (retiring this summer, WOOT!) I'll be sure to watch his segments before we hit the road. Haven't been there since the post-college road trip in 1972.

[cuyeda]

Thanks Gage for the link!

Here are two trailer related videos:

http://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2003/01/09/teardrops-californias-gold-6001/

http://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2003/10/24/mobile-america-special-1/