No more "That's Amazing!"?  I don't want to believe it. 

Sad news!  One of our favorite public television personalities passed away at home Sunday night of natural causes.  He was 67.  Huell Howser, who unabashedly loved California, spent decades traveling to all corners of the state with only a cameraman, introducing us to some little known places and little known facts about places we thought we knew.  He had a soft drawl from being raised in Tennessee, and always seemed happy, with a great smile for everyone.

In addition to his long running program "California's Gold" he also produced more than a dozen spinoffs and special programs, including "Road Trip," "California's Golden Parks," "California's Missions," "California's Golden Coast," and "Visiting With Huell Howser".

He also promoted some of California's universities and local festivals by holding special events at them - sort of like open houses, but by invitation only for those who are contributors to public television.

Jon and I were fortunate to be able to attend one of these functions at U.C. Davis, and various departments of the university showed us what they do:  animal husbandry, wine making, beer making, olive oil making, the wild bird center where they take care of wild predators, teach about them and care for injured birds, and many more things in this great university.  He also filmed an episode there featuring many of the great things this school does that most people don't even know about. 

One thing we stumbled onto that we didn't expect was the collecting of sperm from horses used to breed top level racehorses.  That was fascinating, if a little discomforting - especially since there were some young children whose parents hadn't expected what they saw!

We rode around the campus on their double decker red buses as if we were in London, we ate wonderful food in the dining area, and had an opportunity to spend a few minutes with Huell.  It was spectacular day, and we enjoyed every minute - especially meeting the super-nice Huell Howser.

I just watched an episode of his program last night, not realizing that he had passed away.  The thing that always made his show so much fun was his unfiltered enthusiasm for everything.  I wonder how many thousands of times he said "That's amazing!".  I have a tee shirt with his picture and that phrase on it.

In 2011, Howser donated his entire catalog of episodes to Chapman University so that they could be digitized, posted to the Internet and made available free-of-charge.  He retired quietly from making new programs in November 2012, without any fanfare, so I suppose he may have been ill at that time.

There will be a special on most PBS TV stations this coming Monday to celebrate his life, so if you are in California, check your local listings.  It will be on KVIE here in the Sacramento area.  And I have no doubt that it will wind up on his website for those who miss it on Monday.

Sorry to see you go, Huell.  All I can say is, "You were amazing!".

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Broker / Realtor

Susan Neal Fine Properties
Century 21 Noel David Realty
Fair Oaks, California

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