The real first posting of 2013. We have been busy bees booking new clients for 2013 and beyond. So it is today that I take this opportunity to talk about a more serious note, a man named Huell.
Huell as many of you may know, was the famous California golden boy. A transplant from Tennessee, he came to California in search of the golden stories that shape who we are and where we live today in this great state. He would find those stories and had an uncanny ability to bring us all down to earth. He passed away a little over a week ago. I find it fitting to talk about his larger than life personality and the man, because he gave me my first job.
I was 17 and thought, wouldn't it be great to work for this guy that cared about everything? I was inspired by his documentary filmmaking style, so much so that I wrote him a letter and said I wanted to work for him. A few weeks later, I got a phone call from him and had a job with his production studio on the KCET lot on Melrose. He had 3 segment producers, an editor and me, the intern. I would later become a production assistant and have my name in the credits- which was pretty spectacular for the girl who sent out a letter.
Huell may have seemed down to Earth and he was, but his business side was incredible. He ran the show and knew how to please people, get sponsors and walk the walk. People don't necessarily think of him that way, but he was more than a host, he was involved in every aspect and loved it that way. That's because he loved telling stories, everything really did interest him. It was never a show, it was a way of life.
At 4 pm today at the Griffith Observatory there will be a memorial service held for Huell Howser. I won't be there, it's a city hoopla thing and I think Huell is laughing in his grave at all the fuss the dignitaries are making, but oh well, it's fun too. I think a more fitting memorial would be for everyone today at 4 pm to think of what they love about California and then smile, because there is probably a California's Gold episode showcasing that very thing they love. It is the episodes he made which best personify who he was and where he was going. He, like everyone else, was a true example, of California's Gold.