“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.”
Huell Howser
(1945 – 2013)
When Mr. Huell Howser passed away in 2013, I remembered him here. And though I occasionally catch one of his old shows on the boob-tube, I don’t often think about him. When my buddy Shawniece reached out and told me she was part of a group responsible for getting Huell a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars, I was happy for her and for Huell’s memory. As it happens, Shawniece is a bona fide Huell fantatic. Knowing I’d appeared in a couple of Huell’s shows, she invited me to attend the dedication ceremony. And I said yes.
I took my friend Tiff along, and she was the perfect companion. Tiff happens to love Huell, and she was quite moved by the ceremony. So were a lot of folks. Some of us in attendance had appeared in a Huell show. Some had worked with Huell, like his camera operators Luis Fuerte and Cameron Tucker. There was speechifying and singing. There were laughs, smiles and a few tears. There was even some whistling done by Carole Anne Kaufman, a world champion whistler. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’ve ever been in the company of an actual world champion whistler. I mean – I think Mister is a top-notch whistler, but this gal was aces! All in all, it was lovely and fun. And it went down on what would have been Huell’s 70th birthday. I’d say that was not only appropriate, but also heartwarming.
Once the ceremony was finished, Tiff and I hit the road and drove back to L.A. With Palm Springs in the rear-view, I thought a lot about Huell Howser and about how beloved he is to this day. And then I remembered how a few weeks ago, I had entered a room of mostly strangers and found them talking about Huell. One person said she just knew his accent was fake. Another said something about having been told what a jerk Huell was. Y’all – I’ve lived in Los Angeles for a couple of decades now, and I still possess a southern drawl, so I felt confident in what I said to that roomful of people: “I happened to have met Huell Howser a couple of times. We weren’t friends or anything, but I was fortunate enough to break bread with the man. And I can tell you this – his accent was the real deal. I don’t think he could have turned it off if he’d tried. And as to his character, well, I certainly never witnessed anything less than gentlemanly behavior. In fact, I think it’s fair to say he was a far nicer person than I. Maybe you shouldn’t repeat gossip about someone you don’t know.”
I only threw in that last line because I wanted to enforce what I’d said about Huell being nicer than me. That and those folks had pissed me off a bit. I don’t take kindly to people dissing Huell. I’m guessing anyone who actually knew him would agree.
